


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Gods

by Lugialvr1994



Series: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dawn of Civilization [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Complete, Established Relationship, Female Protagonist, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Gen Work, Mostly Gen, Multi, POV Lesbian Character, Sequel, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 88,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lugialvr1994/pseuds/Lugialvr1994
Summary: In the sequel to PMD: In the Wake of Legends a request from south across the ocean unexpectedly leads the Creekside Adventurers’ Society into a grand conflict that could shape the future of their dawning world.Update 6/1/2020: This story’s sequel, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Fate, has now begun posting. It will not be the final installment in the series. However, it will be the last main trilogy installment in this series.Update: 9/21/2020: The first spin-off story of this series, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Eternity, has just begun posting. This new story does not strictly require having read all three main stories in this series first in order to understand it. See that story’s opening notes for more information.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dawn of Civilization [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621558
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. A Routine Mission

**Author's Note:**

> After over two years have passed since I completed posting on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Legends, I have finally gone back and written a sequel to it. This story is NOT the sequel I originally had planned when I was posting Wake of Legends. It is a newer idea that brings back the first story’s protagonist, unlike my original sequel concept. Of course, that means that I advise any readers of this story to have finished Wake of Legends before reading this story about as strongly as I possibly can. I do not know, as of now, if this new series will become a trilogy, or even something longer. However, I can say that the over two year delay has come with the blessing of me being able to use Generation VIII Pokémon and moves in this story. Also, there is the impending release of the Nintendo Switch remake of the original PMD game. Hopefully, that will reignite interest in the spin-off series. This story will not include Gigantamax Pokémon or new species/forms introduced in the upcoming Expansion Pass DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield. I also intend to use at least one regional variant Pokémon as a new character in this story. Mega-Evolution will also return. However, Z-Moves will remain absent, as they were in Wake of Legends. It is also worth noting, for anyone that cares, that this story contains indirect spoilers for the plot of Sword and Shield. It also contains at least one reference to my first PMD series, Ruins of Civilization, as Wake of Legends did. 
> 
> I should also note, as this story’s title suggests, that religion ends up being a major theme in this story. To be fair, that has been true in previous stories of mine, both Pokémon-based and otherwise. Please let me make it abundantly clear that I am not directly trying to offend any particular real-world religion with this story. This story is a fan-written work of fantasy fiction with connections to real-world ideas and issues. In that way, it is like many of my other, previously-posted, works. My reasons for including that disclaimer will hopefully make sense after readers reach a certain point in this story. 
> 
> Finally, I should mention that this story does do its best to avoid one serious weakness of its predecessor. I have come to understand that Wake of Legends took far too long to get to its main plot, or even begin to hint at it. To be fair, reader mileage will vary about my last statement. This story will not take as long to get to the “main event” as it were. However, it will still take a bit of time to set itself up for said “main event.” Hopefully, any other potential future stories in this series will also be more focused in their plots as well. 
> 
> With all of that said, this story will post new chapters on Mondays and Fridays, as has become the norm for my works. By the time that the first chapter is posted, the story will be both finished in rough draft form and edited, as usual for my stories. Also, I apologize in advance for any and all tabbing errors that may appear in this story. Thank you for reading this and please enjoy the story.

One early Spring afternoon, over a year following the defeat of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands. Along the road between the river port of Creekside Town and Greenprairie Village to the southeast.

There had been more enemies than Annika had expected. However, her team was as combat-ready as always. The Creekside Adventurers’ Society had been contracted by Watch Captain Samson to break up a rambunctious herd of Nidoran and their evolved forms that had been roaming over and around the trade road leading to Greenprairie Village.

With two of the society’s members, the Drapion Rocco and the Togekiss Linda, patrolling the perimeter of the area to stop other wild Pokémon from interfering, Annika had led the rest of her team closer to the herd. Now, a fight had broken out between the adventurers and the herd. The bad news was that the seven CAS Pokémon were outnumbered at least three to one. The good news was that all but one of them were seasoned veterans and they were used to working together as a team.

In front of her, Annika saw their air support, the Decidueye Ryan and the Noivern Drake dive-bombing a Nidorino and a Nidorina respectively. They then took off back into the sky, trying to draw any ranged attacks the wild herd could muster. Annika quickly refocused herself, thinking, “This would be easier if Leo and Sapphire weren’t still on vacation. Still, we can do this, even without them!”

Suddenly, Annika heard an all too familiar voice calling out to her, “Annika, cover me, I’m going for their alpha male!”

Annika turned to see A female Lucario forming a bone-shaped staff in her paw-like hands and rushing at a Nidoking who was lumbering into the fray. The Lucario went by Alyssa, even though Annika had recently taken to calling her Aly for short.

Annika rushed forward toward the enemy and called out to Alyssa, “Brave as always! I’ll do what I can!” 

Annika saw a Nidorina advancing on Alyssa to try and intercept her charge. She then stretched out her sharp white claws and froze some of the air between them. The pulse of frozen air launched forward and impacted the enemy, slowing her down and distracting her.

A blast of high pressure water shot out from nearby and finished the Nidorina. Annika looked over and saw a male Dewott standing triumphantly next to an unconscious male Nidoran. Annika called out, “Good job, Sylvester!” The society’s newest recruit was working as hard as ever.

Annika looked back over and saw Alyssa jamming her bone staff into the Nidoking. The Lucario then pummeled him with repeated strikes before he could counterattack. Annika then spotted a Nidorino beta male trying to flank Alyssa. Annika charged towards the Nidorino as her claws took on a metallic sheen. She buried the claws in her foe’s back. As the enemy staggered, he was finished by a sudden a precise blast of lightning that came down on him from above.

Annika turned around again and saw a Togedemaru waving over at her. Lawrence, as he was called, then turned his attention to a pair of female Nidoran and charged up his body with electricity. He barreled towards the two foes as they advanced on Sylvester. 

Annika looked for a new target. She saw that Ryan and Drake were trying to isolate at least eight of the enemy far away from the main battle. Alyssa was still dueling the Nidoking, her reinforced body taking only light injury from his claws and tail. She continued to rain down blows at him with her bone staff, wearing him down considerably.

As Annika took aim with her icy claws at the Nidoking to help Alyssa finish him off, she heard a loud roar from behind her. She turned around just in time to see a Nidoqueen rushing right for her.

The Nidoqueen delivered a solid kick to Annika’s stomach, sending the Weavile flying. Annika was knocked onto her back as her enraged foe bared down on her.

As Annika tried to get up and out of the way, a white-furred quadruped leapt in front of her and swung the blade on her head at the Nidoqueen. The blade fired a point-blank pink scythe of mental energy into the Nidoqueen. The scythe connected with her chest and staggered her. 

Annika leapt to her feet as the Absol was surrounded by a shell of energy and transformed herself into a winged form with extra fur. Annika rushed forward and shouted, “Well take her together, Marcy!”

Marcy nodded and told Annika, “You know I’ll always have your back!” She then rapidly evaded two kicks from the injured Nidoqueen.

As Marcy delivered another psychic slice into her foe, Annika rushed in and bombarded the Nidoqueen with claw swings. The enemy staggered further and then was blasted by a shot of water from Sylvester. She tumbled down onto her face, clearly no longer a threat to the adventurers.

Annika and Marcy looked over to see Alyssa, who had also changed her appearance and power up via Mega Evolution, planting her bone staff between the enemy Nidoking’s eyes. The alpha male collapsed backwards as Lawrence took down a female Nidoran with another large bolt of lightning.

Ryan was flying over the road sniping the remaining enemies with ghostly arrows. Each successful shot seemed to slow the victims’ movements, making escape or advance harder for them.

Drake had managed to lure six of the Nidoran into a small cluster where they were flinging poisonous barbs at him. Most of the barbs were either evaded or had little effect on Drake’s leathery hide. Suddenly, the Noivern landed and detonated a massive blast of sound from the two large ears atop his head. The cacophonous burst blew four of the enemies away, neutralizing them. The two that had somehow survived quickly began to flee.

Marcy smiled and her body began to crackle with energy. She ran after the fleeing Nidoran with Lawrence not far behind her. Annika saw Alyssa down a Nidorina with her bone staff. She then turned to Annika and begin jogging over to her.

As Ryan sniped a Nidorino who was running away in a different direction with his spectral arrows, Alyssa ran up to Annika and focused herself. A pulse of green and pink light flowed into Annika and her injuries from the Nidoqueen’s kick began to heal.

Marcy was now gaining on a group of four fleeing Nidoran. As Lawrence pelted them with pin-shaped barbs from behind her, Marcy shot out a series of razor-like blades of energized air at her enemies. The four Nidoran collapsed upon being sliced into by the blades.

Drake called over to Annika, “I think that is pretty much all of them!”

Annika nodded as her team began to regroup. Alyssa mentioned, as she and Marcy returned to their normal appearances, “The scouts should be able to send a cleanup team if need be. We have pretty much dealt with the herd. When any survivors wake up, they will probably want to get as far from here as they can.”

Annika smiled, nodded and told the assembled Pokémon, “I think that we’ve earned out pay on this job, team.”

Ryan nodded as well and told the others, “I will go make sure to collect Rocco and Linda. We will be able return to Creekside well before night falls.”

Drake reminded Ryan, “Just make sure to report this as another CAS success to your wife, Wing-Commander Serena. I can go visit the Watch Office and make sure that we get our pay once we get back into town.”

Annika chuckled and told Drake, “You sound just like Leo.”

Lawrence added, “Either way, we should be making our way home.”

Sylvester added, speaking mainly to Annika, “I hope that I pulled my weight, ma’am. I certainly would hope to be included in the CAS’s next big expedition, whenever an opportunity arises for one.”

Marcy looked over at Sylvester and told him, “You’re doing fine, kid. You just don’t need to mention your desire to go on our next big trip all the time.”

Sylvester nodded awkwardly and then Annika ordered, “Alright, we are headed back home now. Ryan, go get Linda and Rocco. Drake, go take care of the report to Captain Samson and our pay. The rest of us will head back to Creekside. We will meet up at the base tomorrow morning and collect our money. We will see if any new job requests came in while we were out.”

Alyssa added, as the group began their trek back to Creekside Town, which was visible in the distance, “Nia was annoyed that she had to stay in the base and mon it while we were out. Still, it was her turn.”

Annika nodded at Alyssa, thinking of the CAS’s second newest recruit, who had been left behind on this mission to manage their base of operations in town.

Annika, Alyssa, Sylvester, Lawrence and Marcy met up with Rocco and Linda on the way back to Creekside. Ryan and Drake flew into town ahead of their comrades to fulfill their respective duties. The CAS members entered through the gate Annika had first entered the town through over a year ago. That had been her first day in this world and her first day as a Sneasel.

The various CAS members split up soon after entering town and made their way to their places of residence. Annika followed Alyssa back to the small house that they shared.

As Annika and Alyssa walked through the late afternoon air, Alyssa mentioned, “It sure seems like Marcy would do quite a lot for you. I saw the way she protected you out of the corner of my eye. She must still be grateful that you restored her CAS membership after she got released from prison.”

Annika shrugged her shoulders and replied to her wife, “I think that we were some of her first friends. I think that things have been going a lot better for her after we defeated Lucius. She and Lawrence have been steadily dating for months now and nobody in the CAS, expect for Nia, questions her loyalties anymore.”

Alyssa said, “Well, at least she could make it to our wedding. Also, the local government did not revoke her Creekside citizenship, thankfully.”

Annika nodded and joked, “Be careful what you say about Marcy, honey. Knowing her, she could be following us and we wouldn’t even know it.” Annika was well aware that Marcy was her organization’s undisputed stealth expert. That was a small part of the reason that after the AML crisis and the battle of Mount Flattop, Marcy had been forgiven for her earlier involvement with the cult and allowed to rejoin the CAS. Of course, Alyssa had been quite high up in the AML herself. However, she had defected and exposed Marcy as a spy of sorts after the CAS’s battle with the Legendary Bird Articuno.

As the young couple neared their home, Alyssa mentioned, “I would know if Marcy was following us. I know her aura well enough. That, she cannot hide. Speaking of citizenship, I heard that the new Patrician is considering making it easier for new arrivals to become citizens. He wants to encourage population growth. It’s probably because he wants to staff the new farms they are trying to build directly to the west of town.”

Annika pointed out, as she got out her key to the front door of the one-floor house she shared with her wife, “The new building project might make more work for us? I hope that Leo and Sapphire get back here within the next couple of months at most.” Annika then opened the door to her home and stepped inside.

As the young couple walked into their house, Alyssa replied, “The last letter we got from them said that they were still trying to encourage expanded trade between Creekside and the ports on the Southern Coast of this island. That deal with the local government is how they are funding such a long family trip with their daughter Leona after all.”

As Annika looked into a food barrel for some ingredients to begin making dinner with, she chuckled, “It is just like Leo to bring economics into everything, even a family vacation. You know that he brought up the funding idea to the local government. They did not approach him first.”

Alyssa simply nodded and then walked over to help Annika start getting dinner ready.

Annika ate dinner at home with Alyssa that night. The two of them fell asleep in their bed just off the main room of their home soon after eating. Annika fell asleep in her wife’s loving arms wondering what news, if any, Nia would have for them when they went over to the base the next day.


	2. A Letter from Abroad

The next morning, Annika woke up in her bed and stretched herself out. She looked around and noticed that Alyssa was not in bed with her. She then walked in to the main room of the small house and saw that her wife was working on getting a basic breakfast ready for the two of them.

Without turning to Annika, Alyssa said, “Good morning, honey. Are you feeling ready for breakfast?”

Annika licked her lips, nodded and walked over to the small table nearby the cooking area. After sitting down cross-legged at the table, Annika was soon served her breakfast. As the young couple at their meal together, Annika mentioned, “I think we should head into the base early today. I want to make sure that our pay has been deposited there and check in with Nia. We told her to be in as early as she could today.” 

Alyssa nodded as she ate. She then looked over at her wife and told her, “I still think that the circumstances that brought Nia here are kind of funny. First, her people in the foothills of Mount Flattop learn that the CAS defeated and calmed the rampaging Articuno, who they venerate, even though she kind of ignores them. Then, they send her to Creekside to learn from us and see the world.”

Annika chuckled, “I guess that they view us as quite badass. They also want her learn ‘the value of service’ from us. I know that you only showed up at the end of that fight, still your explaining Lucius’s plot to Articuno and the rest of us was critical in the end.”

Alyssa blushed slightly and mentioned, “I am just glad that the girl has become more respectful and measured since we first took her on. Being raised as a princess, even that of a very small realm must really boost one’s ego. My only real issue with her now is that she still does not trust Marcy.”

As Annika and Alyssa finished eating and stood up, Annika said, “She certainly has had a more privileged upbringing than most of us. Drake and maybe Ryan are the only ones who come close, having come from respected families in their communities.” 

As the young couple were heading out, Alyssa chuckled, “Seeing as though we were both orphans and I was a slave, she comes from a very different world from us.”

Annika added, as she locked the door behind her, “In my case, literally. In your case, it’s still pretty true.”

Alyssa laughed a bit and then the two of them walked across town over to the circular former warehouse that housed the headquarters of their adventurers’ society.

Upon entering the CAS Headquarters, Annika and Alyssa noticed that a number of pouches that most likely contained money had been placed on the main desk. Annika smiled, seeing that their pay had come in. As usual, the satisfaction of yet another job well done was certainly at the front of her mind as well.

Sitting on her haunches on a stool behind the desk was an elegant white-furred vulpine with a split tail. Nia, the Princess of Anetisia, a small realm at the far north of the Grand Island, was a rare Ice Vulpix. Annika remembered first reading the letter from her Ice Ninetales mother, Queen Mona of Anetisia, asking the CAS to train and educate her daughter and help her see more of the world. In exchange, Nia was to help out the CAS in whatever capacity she reasonably could for the duration of her service with the organization. The expiration date of Nia’s time with the CAS had still not been determined. However, the girl had proven herself useful both in and out of combat since Annika had decided that offending a monarch was a bad idea and agreed to take Nia on. Annika had only met the Anetisian Queen in the flesh once, when she visited Creekside a few months ago. Mona had possessed quite the regal air, even more so than her daughter.

Annika asked Nia, “I assume that Drake left these pouches here for us? It looks like there are enough for everyone who was part of yesterday’s mission, except for one.”

Nia simply nodded to Annika and replied, “Yes, Lady Annika. Drake left them here yesterday and reported that your mission was a success. I still wish that I could have accompanied you to deal with those wild ruffians.”

Annika nodded, remembering that for a princess, someone used to being well protected and attended to, Nia was not one to shy away from a fight. Nia’s bravery had surprised the CAS’s older members from the first mission she had gone on with them.

Nia then continued, “Also, Lady Annika, a letter came in for us yesterday soon after you departed on your mission. It has come all the way from Shawlia!”

As Annika tried to remember if she knew where Shawlia was, Alyssa spoke up, saying, “I assume that that has to be the port city on the northern coast of the Adalsian Continent. That should be to the south of the Grand Island, where we live. I heard that the port town of Dralka to the east does plenty of business with that port.”

Nia nodded and added, “You are correct, Miss Alyssa. The letter is for the Creekside Adventurers’ Society. It was not addressed to any one member. The sender’s address is in Shawlia. It also said ‘Shawlia Adventurers’ League.’”

Annika was quite intrigued as Nia pointed to a letter on the desk with one of her front paws. She walked over to the letter, picked it up and looked it over, confirming all of the details that Nia had mentioned. She then announced, “We will gather our present members here in the base and then I will read it to everyone. It sounds like another organization of adventurers has reached out to us. I wonder what compelled them to send a letter this far.”

Nia suggested, “Word of our society’s deeds has spreads far and wide since Miss Alyssa slew the madmon Lucius and the AML was destroyed. That is probably how at least some of the Pokémon of Shawlia know who we are.”

Alyssa added, “There are few, if any, humans on the Adalsian continent from what I know. It is mostly inhabited by Pokémon. Regardless, we will see what this other society of adventurers wants with us once everyone is here.”

Annika, Alyssa and Nia did not have to wait for more than an hour until Drake, Ryan, Marcy, Lawrence, Rocco, Linda, and Sylvester trickled in to the base. Everyone who had come to pick up their pay from yesterday’s successful mission was asked to stay for the time being. Nia, as usual, gave Marcy the occasional suspicious look or glare. Marcy, for her part, ignored Nia’s looks.

Once all ten active duty CAS members were in the base’s main room, Annika explained, while holding the letter in one clawed hand, “Now that everyone on active duty is here, I will explain why I have asked you all to stick around. Nia has informed me that we received a letter from a group calling themselves the Shawlia Adventurers’ League. They sent us this letter without addressing it to any one of us.”

Rocco simply asked Annika, “Are you going to read it?”

Annika nodded and then opened the letter carefully using one of her sharp fingers. With all eyes in the room on her, she then unfolded it and read aloud to her friends and comrades, “To Whom it May Concern at the Creekside Adventurers’ Society…. We are a relatively new organization of adventurers and explorers based out of the port city of Shawlia. We have yet to establish local trust in our capabilities and good intentions. Having heard of the heroic exploits of your society, including your defeating of a mad cult trying to elevate its leader to godhood, we are hoping to humbly receive some of your advice on building up our league and its reputation. We currently only have five members in total. However, we are more concerned with getting work contracts and earning respect than in recruiting more members at this time. We sincerely hope that you can send a return letter to us with any advice you might have regarding how to better our organization. Also, we would appreciate it if you would ever send even one, if not more, members of your society to visit us at the address given on this letter. We hope that you continue to have good luck in your work and that you see fit to honor us with your assistance in any form you see fit. Sincerely, Riccardo: Head Researcher for the SAL. Signed off on by League Head Eliza.”

Annika took a deep breath after finishing reading the letter. The beginnings of an idea were forming in her mind.

Linda spoke up first, suggesting, “They did go through the trouble of sending us the letter and asking for our help politely. We should at least send a letter back to them as soon as we can.”

Lawrence pointed out, “We should also at least consider sending someone to visit them at some point. They did sound quite in need of help.”

Annika put the letter down on the desk and then addressed the assembled Pokémon. She said, “I think that Lawrence is right. I can actually see a couple of reasons to send some of our members to Shawlia to visit with and advise the SAL. For one, I think that visiting another major settlement and advising their local adventurers’ organization would be a good way for us to bolster our reputation even further. Secondly, it has been a while since we launched a major expedition. I, for one, am actually interesting in visiting the SAL and learning more about their membership, goals and situation.”

Ryan responded to Annika by saying, “If we are organizing an expedition to visit Shawlia, then I think I should stay here in Creekside. As the CAS’s official liaison to our town’s government, it makes sense for me to stay. I do not think that Serena would want me to leave for a long period of time either, unless it was truly urgent.”

Annika nodded as Drake added, “I should probably also stay here as well. I don’t want to leave Zeke for a long stretch of time, seeing as though we are now engaged. It should take at least a week to reach Shawlia from the southern coast of this island on most ships. Overall, I would assume that you all will be out for at least most of a month, if not longer.”

Annika nodded and explained, “We should leave at least four of our number in Creekside so as to have an effective active team here. Since Ryan and Drake have volunteered to stay, we will need only two others. As for who is going, I intend to lead the expedition as the Society Head. I also want to bring our two newest recruits, Sylvester and Nia, with us, since they have not had a chance to go on a major expedition with us so far.” 

Sylvester smiled and jumped up a bit into the air. He told Annika, “I will not let you down, ma’am. I’m quite excited by the possibility of visiting another continent. Who knows what mysteries we could uncover there!”

Nia nodded politely to Annika and told her, “I will go with you as you wish, Lady Annika. I was sent to the CAS by my mother to see more of the world, after all.”

Alyssa gently took Annika’s clawed hand and told everyone, “If Annika is leading the expedition, then I will want to go with her. My aura-sensing abilities could very well come in handy. Besides, I have actually been to at least one other landmass before. I was not even born on the Grand Island. My acquired knowledge could come in handy as well.”

Annika smiled up at her wife and told her, “I would not want it any other way, Aly.”

Then, Annika pointed to Marcy and told her, “Marcy, I think that you should also come with us. Your weather sense and stealth expertise could both end up being key assets to us on this mission.”

As Nia pouted, Marcy simply replied, “I understand. I have no intention of letting you all down.”

Lawrence spoke up to say, “If Marcy is going, then I would also like to go. I also have not been on a major expedition with the CAS yet.”

Annika nodded and then said, “Linda, you still spend enough time with your family that it makes sense for you to stay here. I know that that means this expedition will not have a flyer. However, maybe the SAL will, in case we have need of one. Rocco, are you alright with staying behind to support Ryan, Drake and Linda?”

Rocco nodded and told Annika, “Sure thing, boss! It took me long enough to get used to Creekside honestly. I don’t know if I want to go all the way to another settlement and stay there for a long time.”

Linda seemed fine with staying in Creekside. Annika then thought for a moment and pointed to Drake, saying, “Drake, you were in charge here during our first big expedition. Therefore, I am going to make you the Acting Society Head while we are gone. If Leo and Sapphire return from their trip while we are out, then please tell them what is going on so that they do not worry.”

Drake nodded and saluted Annika with a wing. He told her, “I will keep things running here. I am sure that Ryan can help with handling any key decisions that might come up while you six are away.”

Linda pointed out, “We should have someone write a response letter to let the SAL know we are sending a delegation to meet with them. We don’t want to catch them off guard.”

Annika told Ryan, “Ryan, please write the response letter and get it sent. I am not sure if it will arrive before us or not. The letter should simply say that we are sending a delegation to meet with them and that will ideally arrive within the next few weeks from the letter being written. Tell them that we will be carrying their letter and that is how they will identify our group. Also, thank them for writing to us.” 

Ryan also saluted Annika and then got to work on writing the official response letter.

Annika then addressed the other CAS members and told them, “If there are no objections from any of you, the away team will get packing starting today. Sylvester, I want you to figure out when the next ship heading to Dralka Town via Suicune’s River that’s willing to carry passengers will arrive from the dock staff. Nia, let the Patrician’s Office know that most of the society will be away for some time and where we are going. Everyone else who is going is to alert anyone they need to about the plan so that they know where we are headed and why.”

Alyssa told Annika, “I will look at some of our maps and help make sure that everyone is packed. With any luck, we will be ready to depart on the next boat to Dralka leaving Creekside’s port that will carry us.”

Annika nodded back at her wife. After that, she headed over to the base’s main storage room to begin working on packing with Alyssa in tow.

The CAS members spent the rest of the day packing and preparing for the expedition. Sylvester, Ryan and Nia fulfilled the specific duties that Annika had assigned to them. The other society members who had been assigned to stay behind helped with packing and preparations as best as they could. That night, Annika fell asleep next to Alyssa feeling excited about the new opportunity for them that had just appeared.


	3. The Voyage to Dralka Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone reading this knows, there will be a development in this chapter that some readers may find surprising. I will explain more in my ending author’s notes for this chapter.

The day after the membership of the CAS had resolved to begin preparations for the expedition to Shawlia, things were going well. Ryan had sent off the letter to be delivered by air courier to Shawlia, where it would hopefully be received and read by the city’s adventurers’ league.

Alyssa and Lawrence had gone off to do some research at the Creekside Library about Shawlia. Their destination was a major port city located on the Northern Coast of the Adalsian Continent. Annika wanted her six-member expedition team to be as informed about their destination as possible before they arrived.

While Nia had been informing the Patrician’s Office about the impending departure of the six CAS members, Sylvester had gone down to the docks where his father had worked in his younger years. He had been able to learn that a medium-sized cargo barge would dock at Creekside’s port three days after Annika had read the letter from the SAL aloud. It was believed that the barge could transport the six Pokémon down the river to Dralka Town, the largest port town on the eastern coast of the Grand Island. That portion of the trip was estimated to only take a day or two. They would have to book passage on a larger ship going from Dralka to Shawlia from there. However, no one was hugely worried that they would have to wait for very long in Dralka Town. There was apparently a steady trade between the two ports, so a ship that accommodate the six passengers would likely not take very long to show up.

By the end of the day after the letter had been read, everyone who would be going was pretty much packed for the trip. Alyssa and Lawrence had reported back in to the whole society with the results of their research at the library. The most important facts that Annika mentally absorbed about Shawlia’s local geography were that just beyond the city walls was a wooded expanse called the Daedic Forests. Just past the Daedic forests stood a series of hills. Shawlia was also known for a long, pristine beach that stretched out from the city’s location to both the east and the west. 

In terms of the city itself, it was governed by a three-member elected city council, rather than one mayor or patrician. The council made sure to appoint the head of the local watch, which was essentially the police and military of Shawlia rolled into one. What slightly disturbed Annika about Shawlia, considering her own past, was that the city’s primary religion was that of Arceus. Most Shawlians worshipped the proclaimed creator deity directly, rather than paying homage to one of their legendary children. Still, Annika had committed to visiting Shawlia and the letter had been sent, even though her name was not on it. She would follow through on the commitment she had made to the SAL and to her own society’s members.

Three days after the plan to visit Shawlia had been made, Annika, Alyssa, Marcy, Lawrence, Nia and Sylvester all got up early and met up at their base. There, they said goodbye to Drake who had gotten in early to see the away team off and begin his duties as the Acting Society Head. With all of the appropriate preparations having been made, Annika lead her five comrades to the Creekside docks. There, they found the spot where the barge headed towards Dralka was to dock and resupply.

When the trading barge docked, Annika was able to speak with its first officer, a Prinplup named Richard. Richard was pleasantly surprised and seemed quite honored that the leader of the famed Creekside Adventurers’ Society wanted to book passage on his barge, even if it would be only for a day or two. For now, the barge’s final destination was Dralka Town. Therefore, it would not be able to take them all the way to Shawlia.

Annika and Richard negotiated a price for all six CAS Away Team members to ride the barge to Dralka. From there, they would be on their own in trying to find to ship that would take them all the way to Shawlia. Annika noted that the final price for six passengers Richard set was lower than she had expected it to be. She surmised that the fame and prestige of the CAS probably played a role in the likely reduction of the fare.

After the barge resupplied, Annika boarded it along with Alyssa, Marcy, Lawrence, Nia and Sylvester. They were told that they would have to sleep relatively close together below the main deck. That was because of the limited remaining space on the vessel. Thankfully, the barge was heading directly down the river to Dralka with no other planned stops along the way. Annika could tell that Nia was the one most annoyed at the lack of pleasant accommodations. However, the princess said nothing as the adventurers laid down their packs below the main deck nearby some cargo crates. 

Thankfully, the trip to Dralka was a reasonably quick one. The barge left Creekside Town in the late afternoon, sailed under the arching bridge over Suicune’s River and made its was east toward the coast of the Grand Island. The barge spent the whole next day traveling and then arrived at Dralka Town the morning of the day after, two days from when it had departed from Creekside Town’s docks.

Upon disembarking from the barge, Annika and company looked around the port of Dralka. The seaside town was around as big as Creekside. However, it featured more varied building styles and materials. Richard had helpfully given Annika the addresses of a couple of local inns, so that the adventurers would have a place to stay.

Annika smiled a bit looking out at the beaches nearby the docks. She had never been to a seaside beach before as a human or a Pokémon. She remembered that Leo and Sapphire had told her before their recent departure that the beaches on the southern coast of the Grand Island were quite lovely and tranquil, even in the early spring. Still, the Dralka Beach was quite pretty in the morning light. The sand was an orangey color and seemed to stretch on for miles both to the north and south of the coastal town.

Annika’s team was able to find its way to the larger of the two inns that Richard had suggested they check out. There, they booked rooms for two nights to be safe. Alyssa was to share a room with Annika. Marcy and Lawrence were also to share a room. Nia and Sylvester would be afforded smaller individual rooms.

After checking in to their rooms and putting their packs down, the away team members split up to explore Dralka Town. Sylvester was tasked to go with Nia and find out when the next ship bound for Shawlia that could hopefully take on six passengers was scheduled to arrive in the port. If one was currently docked, then its departure date would be the critical piece of information the newer recruits were to learn.

Lawrence and Marcy were sent out to learn where the best restaurants were located in town. They were also to look for a shop where the away team could stock up on supplies if need be. As for Annika and Alyssa, the young couple were headed down to the beach at Annika’s insistence. She wanted to spend some time relaxing after being cooped up on the barge for over a day.

Annika and Alyssa were walking south down the beach by the water’s edge. Alyssa mentioned as Annika stared into the water, “It is quite peaceful here. I have not been to beach since early in my AML days. Suicune’s River back home does not really have much of a beach.”

Annika nodded and replied, “This is my first time on a beach. I enjoy the feeling of sand on my toes. I have never experienced that before. It’s kind of funny, seeing as though Weavile are normally found in colder climates.”

Alyssa seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. She then told Annika, “I have an idea…. I was thinking that after we return home from Shawlia, we should go on a real vacation. Just the two of us.”

Annika asked her wife, “What about the society? Leo and Sapphire went on their vacation because they knew we could manage without them. They also have a daughter to raise and they owe it to her to give her new experiences. I am the Society Head, and I am already going to be out with all of you for quite some time. Not that I don’t trust Drake and Ryan to handle things without us…”

Alyssa sighed slightly, folded her arms and told Annika, “I love that you care about the business and its reputation so much. However, I do think that we should take a break at some point. I think that you should give my idea some thought.”

Annika nodded and then mentioned, “It’s not that I don’t want to go on a vacation with no connection to our work. I just don’t know if now is the time. Running an organization as famed as the CAS is not easy and I want to live up to the expectations placed on me by our success so far. It’s not like we have kids to take care of. We can’t even have kids.”

Alyssa seemed deep in thought. She then looked Annika in the eyes and took a deep breath. Annika could not help but be worried. She had no idea what Alyssa was about to tell her. However, it did not seem like anything simple, or insignificant.

Alyssa sighed again and told Annika, “There is one thing about me I have never told you, Annika. It’s something I just want you to know and remember now that I feel that this is finally the right time. …Annika, I am bisexual. I am attracted to both males and females. I chose to stay with you and marry you after we defeated my former master Lucius because I love you and I thought that you were someone worthy of my love and devotion. However, I always knew that the price I would pay for spending my life with you would be that I could never have my own children. I have never cheated on you, or ever really thought about being with someone else. I just want you to know that I made a choice when we got married. I stand by my choice….”

Annika was slightly shocked by Alyssa’s revelation as the Lucario’s words trailed off. However, instead of anger at her wife, she felt guilt welling up inside of her. Annika sighed deeply and told Alyssa, “Aly…Alyssa. I am really, really, sorry that you did not feel comfortable telling me that before. I honestly wish you had told me that sooner. Still, I do need to remember your needs as well as my own. Once we are back home from this expedition, I will see about the two of us taking some real time off.”

Alyssa smiled at Annika and admitted, “I am sorry that I kept that aspect of myself a secret from you for so long. I do love you, Annika. I just did not know how you would react. We are partners in life and in our work. I hope you know that I would never abandon you.”

Annika nodded and slowly embraced her wife. She then chuckled and told her, “You know that if I had been keeping a big secret from you, you would have figured out something was up thanks to your Aura Sense.”

Alyssa nodded with Annika in her arms and then disengaged the embrace. She then told her wife, “I can admit that that may not have been the best time to tell you all of that. However, I just want you to understand the depth of my commitment to you and what I expect in return.”

Annika looked Alyssa in the eyes and told her, “I will forgive you for keeping that part of yourself a secret. However, there should be no more secrets between us now, ok?”

Alyssa nodded and replied, “I agree. For now, why don’t we just focus on our current mission. We are still going to a new place to meet new folks and see what we can do to help them. And there is nobody I would rather be following there than you.”

Annika blushed a bit and then she took Alyssa’s hand in her own. Annika and Alyssa made their way a bit farther down the beach and then waked back to town. Internally, Annika was still a bit rattled by Alyssa’s revelation. Her wife’s orientation was not the problem, the fact that she had not told Annika the truth until now was. For now, Annika just had to trust that her beloved was not keeping anything else from her. She knew that she was not even trying to hide anything from her wife.

That evening the six members of the CAS away team met at Dralka Town’s nicest restaurant for dinner. Nia had made the reservation earlier that day at Lawrence’s request. When asked about how their walk on the beach had gone, Annika and Alyssa had just said that it had gone well and that the beach was nice and pretty.

Sylvester said that he had learned that a ship was currently docked at Dralka’s port that was bound for Shawlia. It would leave, conveniently enough, in two days in the mid-morning. Sylvester had already informed the crew of the ship that they intended to book rooms for the six of them the next day. The crew had reserved the spots for Annika and company.

Marcy had reported in that she and Lawrence had found a couple of shops where they could stock up on supplies if they deemed it necessary.

Annika reminded everyone that once they boarded the ship headed for Shawlia, it would take somewhere between a week and ten days for them to reach the port city. Everyone was to spend the next day enjoying their brief stay in Dralka after their rooms aboard the ship were properly reserved and paid for.

Annika went to sleep in her inn room bed with Alyssa that night excited and nervous about the trip to come. She was excited to visit Shawlia and nervous about having to spend such a long time at sea on the way there. Annika also mentally resolved to make sure to continue earning her wife’s trust. She did not want to give Alyssa any reason to hide anything from her in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alyssa’s bisexuality was something I considered canonizing in Wake of Legends. However, it did not end up being brought up until this story. I should note that, like Annika said, she was more concerned about a secret being kept from her than her wife’s orientation in general. That is really what this subplot is about, honesty with those close to you, or the lack thereof. Finally, this subplot will not be a one-off. It will be mentioned again a few times and eventually be more fully resolved later in the story. Thank you all for reading this.


	4. Reaching Shawlia

The day that Annika and company were to board the merchant ship sailing for the port city of Shawlia on the coast of the Adalsian Continent, the leader of the CAS walked up to the massive watercraft that her team was to board. This vessel was far too big to easily sail up Suicune’s River, that was for sure. Compared to ships from the world Annika had been born in as a human, this vessel was quite primitive, ancient even. Even so, she was well built and looked ready to brave the high seas.

The ship was primarily made from wood, with some metal reinforcement. Her central mast was quite tall and sported an impressive sail. She had rows of long oars jutting out from each of her sides for extra propulsion and steering. The bow of the ship sported a reinforced ram mounted close to the waterline carved to look like a Sharpedo with its teeth barred. On the ship’s top deck two pairs of large ballistae were mounted for long-range defense. To Annika, the crossbow-like artillery mounts were even further proof of how far behind her birth world this planet was. Of course, she did not really care about the lack of technology. What mattered to her was that she had many friends along with her wife in this world. They, along with her business, were what truly mattered to her.

Annika then heard Sylvester’s voice from behind her saying, “She’s named the _Ocean Breeze_. The Captain told me when we purchased our rooms onboard that she was built by humans on the continent far to the west of here. The onboard weapons and ram were kept for defensive purposes when he purchased her a couple years ago.”

Annika remembered that the Captain of the ship was a bulbous Pokémon called a Jelicent. She was pretty sure that his name had been Augustus. Either way, the Captain had been more than willing to take the CAS members’ money and welcome them aboard the _Ocean Breeze_.

Sylvester continued, as he walked over next to Annika, “I believe that you had Alyssa round up the others and complete our checking out of the inn. Thankfully, the _Ocean Breeze_ should not be leaving port for at least another hour. They will want to make some final preparations before departure.”

Annika nodded at Sylvester. She remembered that human craftsmanship was heavily valued in this world’s Pokémon societies. That principle seemed to extend from small works or art all the way up to large vessels such as the _Ocean Breeze_. She then told Sylvester, “We will be on our way to Shawlia soon enough. I think that the members of the SAL will be happy to see our delegation once we finally arrive.”

Sylvester responded, “I certainly hope so, ma’am. We will only be making one stop on the way to Shawlia. It should be at one of the port towns on the southern coast of this island. We’ll be there for less than a day and then we will sail south across the ocean to Shawlia.”

Suddenly, Annika and Sylvester heard some footsteps behind them and then Nia’s voice saying, “If they have the space, I think that the Shawlia Adventurers’ League should give us a place to stay while we are visiting them. We will have come so far after all.”

As Annika and Sylvester turned around to see Alyssa, Marcy and Lawrence with Nia, Alyssa mentioned to the Ice Vulpix Princess, “If we stay with the SAL, then we won’t be able to stay in a fancy hotel in Shawlia. I am sure that a city of that size will have at least one. Of course, if you think the SAL will owe it to us, then…”

Nia blushed and quickly exclaimed, “I didn’t think of that, ok! Maybe we should not impose on our hosts?”

Alyssa and Lawrence laughed as Marcy chuckled moderately. Annika then asked her team, “Is everyone packed and ready to board the ship? We cannot afford to leave anyone, or any important supplies, behind.”

Alyssa saluted her wife and told her, “We made sure to grab everything. As you can see, everyone is here. Now, I suggest that we get settled into our rooms onboard and prepare for the ship’s departure.”

Annika nodded in agreement and then led the five other Pokémon to the gangplank of the _Ocean Breeze_. Once at the top, they checked in with the ship’s Slowking First Mate, Gerald. Gerald had a pair of surprisingly adept Slowbro sailors take the CAS members’ packs to their rooms.

The five adventurers followed the two Slowbro to their rooms below deck. The passenger floor of the _Ocean Breeze_ was located above the multiple floors of cargo space that made up most of the ship’s interior. That way, the passengers would have access to the ship’s upper deck with relative ease. The _Ocean Breeze_ was primarily a cargo-hauling merchant ship. However, Captain Augustus had apparently decided that it was a good idea to diversify his business and dedicate a floor of the ship to paying passengers.

Once again, the two couples were sharing rooms. Nia and Sylvester each received a smaller individual room as well. The four rooms were nearby each other and had easy access to the ship’s passenger eating hall, which was separate from the crew’s mess hall. Nia was quite pleased with the accommodations under the circumstances. Everyone else was simply happy that they would have real rooms to stay in during the long voyage to Shawlia.

The _Ocean Breeze_ departed Dralka Town within two hours of Annika and company boarding her. Annika and Alyssa stood together on the top deck of the mammoth vessel as crew members walked around them.

Alyssa told Annika, “We are certainly on our way now. We will only have one brief stop to resupply before we are on the open ocean as opposed to hugging the coast. The First Mate said that it should only take us around two days with a good wind to reach our stop. From there, it will be a week of sailing south across the open ocean. I just want you to know that since I have been on a ship before, it can get a bit boring. I hope that we can keep ourselves occupied until we arrive in Shawlia.”

Annika shrugged her shoulders and said, “I have been on some long journeys before. At least we won’t wear out legs out with hours upon hours of walking this time. We will have each other and the other four on this trip to keep us company.”

Alyssa nodded and said, “From what I have gathered, the Captain of this ship has sailed between the Grand Island and Shawlia many times before. It sounds like he has figured out a reasonably safe course between the two landmasses. With any luck, we will avoid running into a significant force of hostile aquatic wild Pokémon, or any pirates trying to steal the ship’s cargo.”

Annika pointed out, “If anything were to happen, we would certainly lend our aid to the crew in defending the _Ocean Breeze_. We are probably more experienced in combat than most of them. Even Sylvester has been in quite a few scraps before with and without the rest of us.”

Alyssa nodded as the young couple watched the _Ocean Breeze_ pulling farther and farther away from Dralka Town. Soon, they were following the coast of the Grand Island south towards their only stop on the way to their foreign destination.

Two days later, the _Ocean Breeze_ stopped at the easternmost port town on the southern coast of the Grand Island. The stop lasted less than a day as new cargo was loaded and some trade goods were unloaded to be sold in the port. Annika and company had a chance to get off of the _Ocean Breeze_ for a couple of hours. During that time, they were able to walk around the town and chat with the locals, most of whom were excited to meet members of the famous Creekside Adventurers’ Society, including the Society Head. They did not catch any sign of Leo and Sapphire, or their daughter Leona, in the coastal town before they had to board the _Ocean Breeze_ once again.

From the southern coast of the Grand Island, the _Ocean Breeze_ sailed due south for two days. The ship then began to head west a bit over the next four days. According to the crew of the vessel, they were perfectly on course and had managed to avoid any trouble from extreme weather, schools of wild oceanic Pokémon, or hostile ships. That night, after having been at sea for six days following the brief stop, Annika fell asleep hoping that they would see land soon.

The next morning, Annika and Marcy were standing on the bow of the _Ocean Breeze_ and looking out at the wide open ocean. Alyssa had slept in that morning as did Lawrence. Nia was still eating breakfast with Sylvester as far as Annika knew.

As Annika was gazing out at the ocean, Marcy noted, “The crew of this ship is admirably competent. They did not even seem to need my help with regard to avoiding potentially dangerous weather patterns. I should also let you know that yesterday the First Mate informed Lawrence and I that today should be the day we reach our destination.”

Annika perked up a bit and smiled at Marcy, telling her, “It will be good to set feet on dry land again. None of us are the sort of Pokémon who traditionally live in the open ocean. Even members of Sylvester’s species are more river dwellers than anything else.”

Mary told Annika, “To be honest with you, I wanted to get out of Creekside for a bit even before the SAL’s letter arrived.”

Annika gave Marcy and inquisitive look and asked her, “Why would that be?

Marcy sighed and replied, “Ever since my earlier misbehavior was exposed, I have always felt a bit unwelcome in Creekside. If you had not allowed me to rejoin the society and prove myself to you again, then I would have left the town and possibly the Grand Island. Ideally, I would have done that with Lawrence by my side.”

Annika simply nodded and told Marcy, “As you well remember, I was enraged when I first realized that you had been aiding Lucius. However, especially when it turned out that you, like Alyssa, were unaware of his true murderous intentions, I began to understand your motives. That led to my willingness to forgive you. You wanted to help the one who had promised to avenge your first lover’s death and then followed through on his promise. We were all duped by Lucius to some extent. I can tell you right now that Alyssa still feels incredibly guilty about having been Lucius’ assistant for so long. That was probably how she was able to come to forgive you herself. Nia is another story. Her people worship Articuno and you and the AML did unintentionally cause her rampage.”

Marcy looked Annika in the eyes and told her, “That mistake, I will never forget. I still have not forgiven myself for leading the attack on Articuno. Nia has every reason to hate me. I just do not really care enough to try and change her mind. …I will say this. You are Lady Annika to me as well. You forgave me and because of you, the rest of the CAS, minus Nia, has done so as well. I will follow you to the darkest parts of this world if need be. I love Lawrence, but you were possibly my first real friend.”

Annika blushed a bit. However, she simply nodded this time. Marcy’s admission of unease in Creekside and declaration of loyalty were not nearly as big bombshells as Alyssa’s admission about her real sexual orientation. Annika replied, “I sincerely appreciate your confidence in me, Marcy. I know that you might feel as though you can never undo what you did in your past. Still, you are doing good work with us now. Lawrence clearly still wants to be with you, despite what you have done.”

Marcy nodded and finished, “As far as I am concerned, you, Lawrence and the rest of the CAS are all that I need.”

Suddenly, the booming voice of the Loudred lookout in the ship’s crow’s nest called out, “Land Ho Captain! I can see the Northern Adalsian Coast on the horizon!”

Captain Augustus’s voice could be heard calling out, “All hands, make for Shawlia! We aim to be there by high noon!”

Annika and Marcy turned around to see the other four members of the away team walking up to them. Nia said, “Thank Arceus, we are almost to dry land.”

Lawrence pointed out, “We should all be prepared for Adalsia’s warmer climate. Thankfully, we have been easing into it as we’ve been sailing south.”

Alyssa told Annika, “I can only assume that we will make a beeline for the SAL’s address once we arrive in Shawlia. Gerald told me that we will need to check in with an officer of the local watch before we head into the city. There should be at least one of them ready to quickly interview the passengers disembarking from the ship once it docks.”

Annika replied, “Good to know, Aly. For now, we should get below decks and get our packs ready. Then, we can come back up here to watch as we close in on Shawlia’s harbor.”

Everyone nodded and then the CAS Pokémon headed back down to the passenger deck to get ready to disembark from the _Ocean Breeze_. Their long voyage was finally almost over.


	5. Shawlia City

By the time that Annika and company got all of their packs loaded up and got back up to the top deck of the _Ocean Breeze_ , they were easily able to see land. The northern coast of the Adalsian Continent now stretched out as far as their eyes could see. On the coastline, they could see an expansive beach covered with sparkling white sand. Many of the trees along the beach were varieties that Annika was not familiar with. Some of them had long, thin, trunks with only a bit of greenery at the very top.

Within a couple of hours, the _Ocean Breeze_ closed in on a port city filled with wooden and stone buildings of various shapes and sizes. The two tallest and largest buildings were a towering domed structure near the exact center of the city and what looked to Annika to be a church of some kind. The church was located not far from the city center. From what Annika had been told about Shawlia, that building was most likely their central church of Arceus. 

Soon, the _Ocean Breeze_ carefully made its way into the city’s harbor. As the other passengers gathered on the top deck and the crew prepared to start unloading cargo, Captain Augustus called out, “All hands, prepare to dock! We have made it to Shawlia City once again.”

Annika looked over at the docks and saw at least four other large ships loading and unloading cargo and passengers. There were also a number of small boats docked across the harbor. Shawlia was certainly the largest settlement Annika had been to since becoming a Pokémon. It was quite impressive, to say the least.

Once the _Ocean Breeze_ had successfully docked, the ship’s passengers were allowed to disembark down the gangplank before any cargo was to be unloaded.

Annika, as the head of the CAS, lead her away team down the gangplank. The other passengers were coming down to the docks behind them. Not long after setting foot on the docks. Annika noticed two short, yellow and brown canines wearing necklaces with bronze badges on them. An image of the domed building Annika had seen before was emblazoned on the badges. In between them were two Gurdurr with clipboards. They were wearing a different type of badge that had the image of a ship emblazoned on it. The four Pokémon were positioned on the pier between the new arrivals and the city proper. One of the canine creatures called out, “Form two lines, please. We need to confirm your business in the city. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Annika whispered to her comrades, “Those four-legged ones are so…cute? I am not sure how they are supposed to be intimidating?”

Alyssa whispered back, “I think that those little guys are called Yamper. They are known for associating closely with humans in some territories.”

Nia quietly added, “If they are local watch officers, we should be deferential and not comment on their appearance.”

Annika nodded and then led her team forward towards one of the two Yamper, while most of the other passengers lined up in front of the other one.

When Annika was standing directly in front of the Yamper, he looked her and her comrades over and asked her, “How many members are in your party?”

Annika pointed to her five comrades in order and replied, “There are six of us.”

The Yamper nodded, as the Gurdurr wrote something down. He then asked Annika, “What is your party’s business in Shawlia?”

Annika, seeing no reason to not be honest with the Yamper watch officer, replied, “We have come here from the Grand Island to visit with the Shawlia Adventurers’ League.”

Both the Yamper and the Gurdurr looked confused for a moment. The Yamper then seemed to remember something. He asked Annika, his veneer of formality now down, “You came all this way just to see them? That little group is not of any real importance. They will likely disband within a few months at this rate.”

Annika looked and felt a little bit flustered. It seemed that the letter her society had received really was accurate about the lack of local respect the SAL had garnered. Her voice took on an air of importance and slight indignation as she replied, “We have come from the Creekside Adventurers’ Society to advise the Shawlia Adventurers’ League as per their request. Is there any problem with that?”

The Gurdurr stammered, “The Creekside Adventurers’ Society? …Weren’t those the ones the IMC representatives kept singing the praises of, the ones who stopped those mad acolytes at Mount Flattop?”

Annika grinned and nodded as the other Pokémon nearby seemed to notice the commotion. She told the officers, “We simply seek to pass into your city to fulfill our business here. I would hope that that would not cause any trouble.”

The Yamper sighed as the Gurdurr was still seemingly in awe of Annika and company. What the Shawlians did not know is that only two members of the away team, Annika and Alyssa, had actually participated in the battle of Mount Flattop. Annika did not think that it was appropriate to mention that fact at the moment.

The Yamper then told Annika and her comrades, “You may pass. Just know that, as far as the Shawlia City Watch is concerned, the SAL is not a reputable organization.”

Annika simply nodded and then she and her comrades were allowed to pass the Yamper as the Gurdurr remembered his duty and wrote down something else frantically.

After getting past the dock officers, Annika produced the SAL’s original letter from her backpack and looked at the address. She told her comrades, “We should see if we can ask about this address and where it might be. I did not want to ask those dock officers because they were clearly unfriendly to the SAL.”

Lawrence asked Annika, “Not that I would want our long voyage to have been a waste but I am concerned by what the dock officers said. Could the SAL really not be worth our time?”

Nia added, “I hate to say this, Lady Annika, but there has to be a reason that the local authorities are so hostile to the SAL. They do not seem to view them as vigilantes. There must be something about them that makes them seem illegitimate in the Shawlia City Watch’s eyes.”

Annika knew that Lawrence and Nia both had points. However, she said, “We have come all this way already. What we need to do is find the SAL’s headquarters and learn what is going on directly from them. I want to hear their side of the story before I decide what our next move is.”

Alyssa suggested, “Why don’t we look for a place to eat and then see if we can ask around for some directions that can at least lead us to the district where the SAL is based.”

Annika smiled at Alyssa and nodded saying, “Aly is right. Let’s go hunt around for a place to eat and then set off deeper into the city to find the SAL headquarters.”

It was not long after leaving the harbor and walking into Shawlia proper that the six CAS members found a small café that looked nice. Upon sitting down to eat, a Passimian waiter, who identified himself as Milton, took their orders and asked them, “So, might I ask what you folks are doing in town? I noticed your packs piled up next to the table. I assume that you are visiting from somewhere else.”

This time, it was Marcy who replied, telling Milton, “We are here to meet with the local adventurers’ league. Would you happen to know where they are based?”

Milton seemed to think for a moment, he then responded, “I think that, Alan, our head chef, might know. I will see if I can ask him if you would like me to. For now, I will put your orders in.”

Annika and company thanked Milton and then looked over the city streets. Annika noticed that Shawlia was bustling with Pokémon. It seemed as though the areas nearby the harbor were the busiest parts of the city. It was likely that the residential areas and markets deeper into the settlement were less crowed.

When Milton returned with the adventurers’ food, he told them, “Chef Alan was confused as to why you were seeking out the SAL. However, he informed me that he is pretty sure that their headquarters is located in a former Intercontinental Mining Corporation miners’ barracks close to the city’s southern walls. You should be able to find it not far from the southern gate that leads out of the city nearby the Daedic Forests.”

Annika replied, “Thank you, sir. We appreciate the help. Tell your chef that we are grateful for him sharing his knowledge.”

Milton smiled at Annika and her comrades. He then left the six of them to eat their meals.

As they were eating, Annika thought to herself, “The Pokémon we have come to visit better be able to explain their situation to us. Maybe they really do need our help if their fellow Shawlians view them so negatively? I guess that they were honestly hoping that any level of association with a successful adventurers’ society like ours could elevate their status to something respectable. Regardless, I wonder why the other Shawlians are giving not giving the SAL the benefit of the doubt? What is it about them?”

After finishing their meals and paying for them, Annika led her team deep into Shawlia. As she had predicted, the crowds got less thick the farther they got from the docks. The six CAS members made their way to the city center, where they discovered that the towering domed building they had seen before was the Shawlia City Hall. It was the seat of the local government. They also saw the local Watch Headquarters and Trade Ministry Building. Both of those impressive stone structures were in the same grand plaza that the City Hall had been built at the center of.

Annika could not help but be impressed by the things that civilized Pokémon could achieve in the field of architecture. Creekside Town did not have buildings that could match the Shawlian government buildings in terms of either their ornate decoration, or their sheer size. She wondered how big a role, if any, human craftspeople had played in the detailed ornamentation of the buildings’ exteriors.

The one thing about the grand structures that still disgusted Annika were the statuettes of Arceus that topped the three buildings. She also saw statuettes of Palkia and Dialga, the two “first children” of Arceus. Palkia was real, that much Annika knew. She had learned after the destruction of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands that the Demigoddess of Space had been the one responsible for her arrival in this world. It had taken the timely intervention of first Alyssa and then most of Creekside Town to convince her to allow Annika to continue living as a Pokémon. She had been grateful to Palkia, who had cryptically spoken of a “hunt for Arceus” before departing Creekside Town, ever since.

Alyssa mentioned, as the away team left the plaza, “The church dedicated to Arceus not far from here is one of Shawlia’s most famous landmarks. Possibly even more so than the buildings we just passed.”

Sylvester mentioned, “I know that we are not on vacation, but we should go see it when we get the chance. I bet that that church had to be the other tall building we saw on the way in to the harbor.”

Lawrence wondered aloud, “I wonder if we could catch a service while we are here? If the church is really that famous, then we should go see a service given there.”

Marcy sighed and admonished her comrades, “Come on guys, we all know how Annika feels about religion and the worship of Arceus. I know that you all weren’t trying to antagonize her, but why don’t you knock it off either way.”

Annika smiled over at Marcy as the away team kept heading south. She knew that the Absol had her back both in and out of combat.

Nia then mentioned, “I did not say anything, Lady Annika. That said, I am sure that the church is a beautiful building up close.”

Annika simply called back, “You all can go see it without me if you so wish. Now, let’s just focus on finding the SAL Headquarters. We need to speak with them if we want to make a plan for how long we will be staying here.”

Everyone in the away team agreed that they should focus on the task at hand for the moment. It took them some time, but they reached the southern portion of the city and made a beeline for the vicinity of the main gate.

By the early to mid-afternoon, the away team had managed to find their way to a somewhat-derelict old two-story wooden building. The building was actually still larger than most of the buildings in Creekside Town. It appeared to stretch back away from the street and had only one second-story window visible from the front. Just above the front door, a simple sign had been hung reading “Shawlia Adventurers League.”

Annika looked at the letter from the SAL, which she was carrying and then looked at the old barracks. She shrugged her shoulders and said to her team, “Here we go, guys.”

Nia suggested, “We should let whoever is in know that we are here. Hopefully, they always keep someone at their base like we do.”

Annika knocked on the wooden door with the knuckles of one of her three-clawed hands.

A moment or so after Annika had knocked on the door, a male voice was heard saying, “Coming, coming. Lilac, Jenny, if that’s either of you, you should know that you don’t need to knock, we gave you two each a key.”

Before Annika could reply, the door was unlocked from the inside and a male Pikachu peered out and then opened the door. He looked over the six Pokémon, clearly confused, and asked them, “Can I help you folks?”

Annika, who was holding the letter in one hand, replied, “We are here from the Creekside Adventurers’ Society.”

The Pikachu looked over Annika’s team and stammered, “You…are from the…” He then saw the letter Annika was holding and exclaimed, “The letter I wrote for Eliza!... You must be Annika. I can’t believe it! And you brought five of your members? …Where are my manners. Please come in.”

Realizing that the Pikachu must be Riccardo from the letter, Annika and her five comrades followed Riccardo into the somewhat dusty wood-paneled common area of the old barracks. There were tables, chairs and maps scattered around the room. A staircase lead up to the second floor while a door on the first floor seemed to lead to a storage room.

After entering the room, but before they could put their packs down, or say anything, the CAS members heard a sharp female voice calling down from upstairs, “Who is it, Riccardo?”

Riccardo called back up, “It’s the CAS! I knew from their response letter they sent that someone was coming, but they sent six members, including their leader!”

Soon, some frantic footsteps could be heard upstairs. A female Zangoose then emerged at the top of the staircase. She looked down at Annika and her comrades standing next to Riccardo with their packs on and, clearly a bit stunned, stammered, “You actually came.”

Annika looked up at who she assumed had to be Eliza. She had some questions to ask the head of the SAL and she was pretty sure that she would have some questions to answer for her as well.


	6. The Shawlia Adventurers’ League

Annika and her five companions were standing in the common area of the SAL’s former miners’ barracks of a headquarters. Standing next to them was the male Pikachu Riccardo, who had apparently sent the letter pleading for the CAS to aid and advise the SAL. Coming down the stairs to meet them was a female Zangoose.

When the Zangoose reached the bottom of the stairs, Annika asked her, “You are Society Head Eliza I presume?”

The Zangoose was still a bit shocked. However, she soon snapped out of her pseudo-trance and nodded her head vigorously. Eliza asked Annika, “I take it that you found Riccardo’s letter persuasive enough that you came to visit us. How many members does your society have now?”

Annika simply replied, “Twelve in total. Four of the others should still be home in Creekside. The other two are probably still on their extended vacation. As you might know, my name is Annika and I am the head of the CAS. I will allow everyone to introduce themselves…”

Alyssa stepped forward and simply said, “My name is Alyssa, I am Annika’s wife, in addition to being an active member of the society.”

Marcy stepped forward next and said, “My name is Marcy, I am the CAS’s resident stealth expert. If you have never heard of me, that might be why.”

Lawrence hopped forward and said, “I’m Lawrence, I am one of the society’s newer recruits. Marcy and I lived in the same village before independently moving to Creekside. You probably don’t want to know what happened to it…”

As Annika remembered how Marcy and Lawrence’s original home had been destroyed by rampaging Reaver Cultists devoted to Yveltal, Sylvester stepped forward to say, “I’m Sylvester… the newest recruit to the society. I have wanted to go on an expedition with the society ever since I joined up. I love making discoveries and expanding my knowledge.”

Nia finally stepped forward, she gave a brief bow to Eliza and Riccardo. She then said, “Princess Nia of Anetisia, at your service.”

Riccardo seemed sincerely impressed. He exclaimed, “The CAS has an actual princess as a member! This really is remarkable.”

Annika noticed that Riccardo’s attention was now focused on Nia. However, she shrugged it off. Nia did not seem to particularly notice. She was pretty used to being a center of attention after all, at least in her home realm.

Eliza had simply nodded as each of the present CAS members had introduced themselves. She then admitted, “We only have five members as of now, including myself and Riccardo here. Our two scouts, Jenny and Lilac are out together right now. They do not live here. Our newest member and combat lead Ty is out a supply run. He should be back soon.”

Riccardo explained, “As my letter said, I am the head researcher of the SAL. I also tend to stay and manage the base. Since I am usually also the one trying to get us contracts, I was assigned to write the letter asking for your organization’s aid.”

Annika nodded and then Eliza mentioned, “I don’t know if you six want to stay here while you are in town. We do have some more rooms. However, I don’t think that they will be enough.”

Lawrence mentioned, “I am sure that we can find somewhere to stay nearby. Thank you for the offer, though.”

Nia actually looked immensely relieved as Alyssa mentioned, “If you two can direct us to any nearby hotels or inns, that would be with appreciated. We have made quite a bit of money in our line of work, so price should not be a major object. However, before we find a place to stay in the city, I think we would like to know more about your situation here.”

Annika nodded in agreement with Alyssa. She then asked Eliza, “I can understand why a newly-established group of professional adventurers like yours’ would try to reach out to a more experienced organization like ours. You were hoping to get some advice and possibly even a visit from one or more of us. Now, we are here. However, one thing still has us confused, why are the locals, including the authorities, so suspicious of your league?”

Riccardo turned to Eliza and then told her, “I think that you will have to tell them yourself. Should we wait until Ty gets back, or should you just tell them now?”

Eliza sighed deeply and then looked over at Annika and her comrades. As Annika and Alyssa folded their arms, she explained, “I was the one who founded this adventurers’ league. That is why I am its leader. However, the thing that Riccardo’s letter did not tell you is why I decided to found the league. You see… I was born to parents who were not wild per se, but who saw little value in civilized life. They were career outlaws who racked up a considerable bounty for their robberies and scams. When the Shawlian authorities finally caught up to my family, my parents were killed while resisting arrest. I was hauled to prison, alone in the world. After I got released, I decided that I did not know how to do anything but fight. I thought that starting an organization of adventurers would allow me to go straight and use my talents in a way that could let me overcome my family’s blackened reputation.”

Marcy was the first CAS member to reply. She looked Eliza in the eyes and asked, “So you’re an ex-convict looking for a second chance?”

Eliza nodded and continued, “Riccardo here joined up because he wanted to further his own research in the field. He has thankfully been nice enough to stay on despite being frequently relegated to the base. Ty is a seasoned professional mercenary who we convinced to join us to help bolster our combat capabilities. As for Lilac and Jenny, they are old friends. Jenny joined because she wanted to be an adventurer and Lilac followed her with the intention of keeping her safe.”

Nia pointed out, “It was improper of you to not inform us of your criminal history before. Still, it’s not my job to decide how we are to proceed now that we know the truth.”

Riccardo admitted, “I might as well tell you that we did not explain the full story in the letter because we were afraid of losing any sympathy that you would feel for us, and your possible help, if we told it. I do sincerely apologize.”

Annika looked over at her own team and then at the, clearly nervous looking Eliza and Riccardo. She then shook her head a bit, smiled awkwardly and said, “Luckily for you two, we at the CAS are pretty used to the idea of second chances. I can only assume that Eliza’s criminal past is the reason that not many Shawlians trust your league. We came all this way to see if we could advise and assist you and I have no intention of abandoning that plan now.”

Eliza and Riccardo both seemed extremely relieved. Eliza shook claws with Annika and told her, “This means the world to us. As for why we are so mistrusted, the Shawlia City Watch Captain, Zoltar the Boltund, is quite unfriendly to the league. He sees me as a worthless criminal and the SAL as unnecessary. His influence runs deep here and his officers, along with their friends and families, have mostly been convinced not to trust us and our proclaimed intentions.”

Alyssa replied, “I would think that the best way for your league to get more support and therefore contracts would be to get one or more important jobs done, with or without an official contract. You need to be able to prove that you can achieve results, even if not many folks will give you all a chance.”

Annika added, “My wife is right. You won’t be able to expand your business and improve its reputation without completing some jobs. How soon do you think it will take for you to assemble your membership? I would like us all to have a meeting soon.”

Riccardo chimed in, “Jenny and Eliza are currently supposed to come check in tomorrow. Ty should be back sometime today, as we said earlier. However, he should also be here tomorrow.”

Eliza said, “Tomorrow it is then. Riccardo, please see if you can direct our gracious visitors to a hotel or an inn. I will stay here to brief Ty on the situation when he returns.”

Annika told Eliza, “That should all be fine. We will come back here tomorrow morning and then, we will discuss finding work for your organization.”

Riccardo saluted Eliza and then led the way out the front door. He told Eliza, “I am excited already. I will be back once I have found these fine folks a place to stay.”

After leaving the SAL HQ, Riccardo told Annika and her comrades, “Since you said that price would not be an issue, might I recommend the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse near the city center. I have always been told that it is Shawlia’s cream of the crop in terms of lodgings.”

Nia seemed quite excited and exclaimed, “Lead the way, good sir!”

Nobody seemed to object to the idea of staying at a luxurious hotel that was apparently equipped with a bathhouse, so Riccardo led the way north through Shawlia back towards the city center. Thankfully for Annika, the famed Shawlian Central Church of Arceus was on the other side of the governmental plaza from the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse.

Everyone’s mouth was agape when they reached the courtyard of the grand hotel. The stone building was palatial and the attached bathhouse was clearly visible. Nia was almost bouncing up and down with excitement. Even Marcy seemed pleased with the possibility of staying at the exquisite hotel.

Just as he was about to depart back for the SAL Headquarters, Riccardo asked, “Would it be alright with all of you if I asked your leader a quick question in private?”

Annika nodded at Riccardo and then ordered, “Alyssa, honey, get the rooms set up for all of us. I trust you to figure it out. I think that our usual arrangement of four rooms should work once again.”

Alyssa saluted her wife and, began to lead the other four CAS Pokémon to the hotel. She told Annika, “You can count on me. Just don’t be too long.”

Annika turned back to Riccardo who quickly looked both ways to see if they were relatively alone. He then asked Annika, “It really has been such an honor to meet you. I was just wondering… I once heard a strange second or third hand rumor about you. Some sailors who had spent a lot of time in your home town of Creekside claimed that you had once been a human. I have researched the human species quite a bit, yet no records exist of them turning into creatures like us. I can only assume that it was just some strange rumor, am I correct in that assumption?”

Annika had to think quickly. It turned out that Riccardo was quite knowledgeable after all. He really was a professional researcher, not one to fully discount any strange idea without confirming evidence. Annika decided that since the SAL had lied to her and her comrades in their letter by omitting a key detail about their group, she could lie to Riccardo for the time being. Hopefully her subordinates, who all knew the truth about her origin, would not expose her deception until she thought the time was appropriate.

Annika told Riccardo, “That is a really weird rumor. Not sure if I have ever heard that one myself. Someone like you really should not worry yourself with such bizarre tales.”

Riccardo nodded slowly and finished, “I see. Well, I hope to hear some stories of your society’s adventures and exploits in the near future. Have a good evening and we will see each other tomorrow.”

Annika and Riccardo parted ways and then Annika walked into the lobby of the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse. There, she met with her excited yet tired comrades as they were booking rooms for their stay in Shawlia. 


	7. A Plan of Action

Annika soon returned to her wife and comrades who were in the process of booking rooms at the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse. After securing accommodations for the next week, Annika and company gave their packs to the bellhops and they headed up to the third floor of the impressive stone building, where they were given keys to their rooms.

As Annika and Alyssa got settled in to their room, Annika thought over how adventuring was a high-risk, high-reward business. Many of the jobs folks like her took on were dangerous. However, they tended to pay quite highly. Of course, seasoned veterans like the CAS were at far less risk of incapacitation or death than rookies. It had taken time to get there, but the CAS had become widely recognized as elite adventurers. The sort of rates that they could command allowed them to afford staying at a place like the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse.

Alyssa mentioned, once the young couple had set all of their things down, “We are meeting with the SAL’s full membership tomorrow morning. Still, we have the rest of the day before then. …I was thinking of going with the others to the Central Church. Even if we get there after dark, I bet it will look pretty impressive in the torchlight.”

Annika sighed a bit and shrugged her shoulders. She told Alyssa, “Do what you want, Aly. Why don’t you gather the others, head out soon and then we are can meet back here for dinner? I will see if I can enjoy the, apparently famous, baths here while you are out.”

Alyssa saluted her wife and then replied, “You never have gotten over your mistreatment at the hands of that religious order, have you?”

Annika nodded, thinking briefly back to her life as a human, before she had become a Pokémon and before she had felt like someone with any real value. After shuddering for a bit, she told Alyssa, “No, I have not. I may never get over it, to be honest. However, I am not going so as to not spoil your enjoyment of the landmark for you, or any of the others. I love you, Alyssa. I’ll see you later.”

Alyssa nodded back at Annika. Her face then took on a serious yet compassionate look. Alyssa told her wife, “Just remember that I am always there for you, ok. You can talk about whatever you need to with me. I’ll be heading out now.”

Annika looked out the window onto the streets of Shawlia and told Alyssa, “Same to you, Aly. Remember what we said about there being no more secrets between us.”

Alyssa left the room and then Annika headed down to the first floor, got pointed in the direction of the baths from a Vigoroth bellhop and then found a warm bath that was not being used by anyone. Annika slinked into it and spent some time just relaxing. She really was not the typical Weavile, that was for sure. Of course, Annika had never really been typical.

As the afternoon rolled into evening, Annika got out of the bath, dried off and headed over to the hotel’s restaurant, where she awaited the arrival of her team.

It did not take too long for Annika’s comrades to arrive. The six of them crowded around a large, oval-shaped, table and ate a pleasant dinner together. Annika learned, without asking, that the Central Church of Arceus was indeed a beautiful and elaborate structure. It featured a grand worship hall with a statue of Arceus located just behind the altar. The statue was considered one of Shawlia’s greatest treasures. For her part, Annika recommended the baths and told her comrades to go along with her denial of her former humanity if Riccardo, or anyone else, asked them anything about the rumor. Alyssa and the others were surprised that what was common knowledge in Creekside Town had slipped out and reached Shawlia, even if the form of a mere rumor. However, the all agreed to follow Annika’s lead.

After eating dinner, the six Pokémon headed upstairs to their rooms and went to sleep. The next day, they were to go and meet with the SAL to determine how they could best assist the rookie adventurers in building up their reputation.

The next morning, the CAS Away Team met for breakfast at the hotel restaurant again. From there, they made the trek south through the city of Shawlia. In the late morning, they found themselves back at the front door of the SAL Headquarters. This time, the door swung open to reveal the Pikachu researcher Riccardo, who beckoned the six Pokémon inside. 

When Annika and her team entered the common area of the SAL’s headquarters this time, they saw three new faces. Seated on a stool was a female Treecko. Standing next to her was a male Cranidos, who Annika bet was the former mercenary Ty. Hovering nearby the Treecko was a female Ledyba, who looked quite excited to see the CAS members filing into the room. Eliza was standing across the room opposite the front door.

Riccardo closed the door and locked it behind the CAS members. Eliza then addressed her membership, saying, “Everyone, we have some very prestigious guests here with us today. These members of the famed Creekside Adventurers’ Society, including their leader, have graciously decided to come here and help us to build up our reputation. Riccardo and I have already introduced ourselves to these fine folks. Now, it is time for the rest of you to do the same.”

The Ledyba floated up and down excitedly in the air and said, “My name is Jenny, I am the league’s Air Scout. I provide air cover and ranged support for the others when we are on missions. Might I also say that it is quite an honor to meet all of you. I have heard some stories of your society’s bravery and skill, but never thought I would meet any of you in person.”

The Treecko stood up from her stool and said, “I am Lilac. My title in the league is Infiltrator. I handle ground-level recon and stealth for the SAL. I have to admit that I am impressed that Riccardo’s letter actually convinced so many Pokémon of your stature to come here. I am even more impressed that you stayed around after hearing the truth about Eliza’s personal history.”

As Jenny shot Lilac a quick look and Eliza folded her arms and sighed, the Cranidos stepped forward a bit and said, “You can call me Ty. I am the league’s combat expert. I will also admit to being impressed that you all chose to visit our humble operation. I hope that, if the situation arises, your society can demonstrate the teamwork and fighting prowess of skilled veterans to us in the field.”

Annika and her five comrades all introduced themselves briefly to Jenny, Lilac and Ty, now that they were acquainted with all five members of the SAL. Then, Annika announced to the assembled adventurers, “Seeing as though we are all here now, I think we should cut to the chase and get down to business. Eliza, your organization asked for our help, and we are here to give it. Thankfully, I think I have an idea. However, I will need some input from your membership, since you all should be privy to local events in and around Shawlia.”

Eliza asked Annika, “What’s your idea? We have no active contracts right now and we have only completed around four very simple jobs since our founding. We will have to consider any advice you give us seriously.”

Annika nodded. She and the other members of the away team had discussed the advice they were to give to the SAL over breakfast that morning. Annika’s plan was fresh in her mind and the minds of her comrades. Annika then began, “In terms of positive advantages, your league has five members and a dusty, but functional, base. You also have clearly defined roles within your organization. Our society does not have exact roles, other than my being the leader, Marcy being our stealth expert and rough seniority dictating authority otherwise. However, you also have the disadvantages of a local government that does not trust you and of being so new that many locals don’t even know that your group exists.”

Riccardo asked Annika, “You just outlined the positives and negatives of our situation. What is your plan for us to improve our reputation? It seems like you must have one.”

Annika continued, “The way that I see it, the local government is unwilling to offer you contracts and your name recognition is not strong enough to overcome that. You could start checking in with major private organizations and see if they have any work that needs done in the region. However, there might be a better way to make a name for yourselves faster. What I want you to let us know is whether or not there are any problems in the vicinity of this city that your league could go and try to solve, with or without an actual contract being part of the deal. If you could deal with some significant local issue, even without being issued an official contract first, then word of your deed would be likely to spread. That would ideally boost your reputation and possibly even cause the local government to reevaluate your league.”

Eliza looked deep in thought, as did her four subordinates. After about a half-a-minute, Riccardo mentioned, “Well, there was that meteor that struck Mount Galtia to the south of here and the subsequent loss of contact with the towns surrounding the mountain. However, that impact was at least a year ago, if I am correct….”

Jenny’s eyes seemed to light up as she exclaimed, interrupting Riccardo, “What about the Daedic Forest bandits? They have been harrying small groups of travelers for weeks now. The local watch has not yet been able to find their camp. If we could locate and apprehend them, then the we would have been able to accomplish something that the city watch has been unable to!”

Ty asked, “As much as that sounds like a good idea, if the Shawlia City Watch cannot find their camp, how would we?”

Alyssa stepped forward and pointed to the black floppy ear-like organs hanging from the back of her head. She explained, “I am how we find the camp. My species can detect the presence of living creatures and their basic emotional states, including specific individuals we know, at long range. It took me a bit of practice to hone my Aura Sense. However, I should be able to extend it to a significant range now and discern outlaw Pokémon from wild Pokémon based on their emotions with some effort.”

Eliza smiled and said, “That is certainly the start of a plan. If my league helps to apprehend some wanted outlaws, that will hopefully help our critics to look past my background. Still, the Daedic forests are massive. How do we start to hunt down the outlaws, even with Alyssa’s unique sense?”

Lilac spoke up this time, she suggested, “Since it sounds like the CAS members are willing to help us, we will have the aid of some above-average adventurers. That should give us the numbers to split up into a few groups and wander the forest independently. As long as we don’t stray too far from each other, Alyssa can always find us with her Aura Sense. We can try to draw out the outlaws and engage them. We could then stalk any escaping foes back to their camp, or take one or more prisoners and try to make them divulge their camp’s location. Even if we get in good range of the camp, Alyssa can hopefully sense it.”

Annika smiled at Lilac, as did Marcy. She then suggested, “Eliza, it seems as though my wife has volunteered our direct assistance with you on this operation. Me and my team want to see your membership in action, since we are going to be going with you into the forests. I would like each team that we put together to consist of at least one member from each organization, so that we can observe your capabilities for ourselves. If we capture these outlaws, then as long as our society is mentioned as having provided key assistance, I will let the SAL take most of the credit for the victory.”

Eliza smiled back at Annika and told her, “Why don’t me and my four members prepare for the expedition today and we meet back here tomorrow and decide on the three teams’ composition then? We can do two groups of four and one group of three. Does that sound good to you?”

Annika nodded and told her team, “We will do some sightseeing and make the necessary preparations for the rest of today. Tomorrow, we will meet back here, and then venture out into the Daedic Forests to hopefully capture some criminals. Are we all clear?”

Annika’s away team members all nodded their assent.

Riccardo said to Eliza, “It looks like I will be coming with you all this time. I will consult my maps of the Daedic forests and see what paths will be most likely to lead us in the general direction of the possible location of the outlaws' camp.”

Eliza nodded to Riccardo as the other three SAL members got to work on preparations for the expedition. Ty said, “I expect that we will see how seasoned professional adventurers dispatch their foes tomorrow. I have not been this excited in quite some time.”

Lawrence reminded everyone, “I am confident that we can succeed here. However, we should not let our guards down.”

Nia added, speaking directly to the SAL members, “You need to see this as your chance to prove your potential to us. We don’t want you to disappoint us, just as you do not want us to disappoint you.”

Sylvester pointed out, “We will see these craven criminals be brought to justice. Everyone will need to do their part, however.”

Marcy added, “We should focus on non-lethally knocking out as many of the outlaws as we can. There are probably bounties on quite a few of them, if their identities are known to the authorities.”

Annika told Alyssa, “I'm pleased with your idea, Aly. Still, I would expect no less from you. Now, team, we will return to the hotel, make the necessary preparations and explore the city a bit more.”

Eliza told the CAS members, as they were leaving, “Thank you for your help once again. We will meet here as early as we can tomorrow morning and then set out. With any luck, this mission will finally put the SAL on the map, so to speak.”

Annika and her team left the SAL Headquarters and then made their way back to the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse. Alyssa seemed pleased with herself and everyone was excited to be going on a real mission again. Tomorrow, it would be time to see what the Shawlia Adventurers’ League’s members were truly made of.


	8. The Daedic Forests

Annika and her comrades returned to the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse in time for lunch. After eating, Nia suggested that the rest of the CAS Away Team go to the baths, which Annika had recommended highly. Alyssa said that she wanted to go down to Shawlia’s public beach and relax there for a bit. She invited a slightly nervous Annika to go with her. Annika agreed to follow her wife down to the beach once Nia and the other three away team members had headed off to the baths.

While Annika and Alyssa were relaxing on two long wooden beach chairs, Alyssa mentioned how pleasant she had found it that Eliza and her fellow league members had not questioned or shown surprise at the mention of Annika and Alyssa’s same-sex relationship.

Annika pointed out how Eliza and her comrades had every reason to not want to upset the visiting CAS members. Even if one or more of them had prejudices against homosexuality, they would not want to voice them in front of their honored guests.

Alyssa had thought that Annika was being too cynical in her appraisal. She told her wife that she had sensed no hostility in the auras of the SAL members upon the mention of their marriage.

Annika concluded the topic by saying that it ultimately did not matter for the moment. The SAL members had shown their CAS guests no hostility. Tomorrow, all eleven of them would be venturing out into the Daedic Forests together.

After eating dinner privately together at a café nearby the beach, Annika and Alyssa returned to their hotel, where they checked in with their comrades and then went to bed early. They knew that they had an important job to do the next day.

The next morning, Annika gathered her team and, after a quick breakfast, they made haste to the SAL Headquarters. When they arrived, they found Eliza and her four subordinates waiting outside with their packs ready.

Eliza told the six CAS members, “You made good time. We have only been waiting for less than ten minutes, I think. We will lead the way to the southern gate of Shawlia and out into the Daedic Forests.”

Annika nodded, she also noticed some rolled-up maps in Riccardo and Lilac’s packs, that she had a feeling might come in handy.

Eliza made a gesture for her team to move out, which they soon did. Annika kept her team behind Eliza’s for the time being, since they did not know the area as well. It was not long until the eleven Pokémon reached the, currently open, southern gate of Shawlia city.

The gate was primarily made of wood, but heavily reinforced with metal bars. A watch unit composed of four Yamper and two tall bipedal Pokémon that Riccardo called Stonjourner were watching the gate. They looked down at Eliza with obvious suspicion, but did not attempt to stop the procession from leaving Shawlia.

Once the procession was about ten minutes by foot outside of the city walls, Eliza asked Annika, “Would it be alright if I suggested how to divide up our forces? I know that we want to have members from both organizations in each of the three teams.”

Annika replied, “I welcome your suggestions.”

Eliza nodded and explained, “I would like to go with you and Alyssa, Annika. I think that the three of us should be more than a match for any wild Pokémon in these woods. Our group will try to stay in between the other two, so that we keep everyone in the range of Alyssa’s aura sense. As for the other two groups, we should probably have two groups of four. Maybe we should ask our members who they want to go with?”

Marcy spoke up to say, “If it is all the same to the leaders, I would like to go with the SAL’s scouts, Jenny and Lilac. I think that I might be the best CAS member to appraise their skills at stealth and tracking. Lawrence will probably want to go with me. We should make up the second group.”

Annika nodded and noticed that Nia looked relieved that she was not being partnered with Marcy. She replied, “That should be alright, Marcy. That leaves Nia and Sylvester from my team and Ty and Riccardo from the SAL. There group will have the least combined experience possibly. Therefore, we will probably want them to stay closer to the main road than the others. They could possibly try to lure a smaller group of bandits out to engage them far from their camp.”

Marcy told Annika, “If Riccardo gives us a map of the deeper parts of the forests, my group could head there. The question is whether or not we go to the left or the right of the main path first?”

As Riccardo and Lilac handed out maps to make sure that each group had them, Annika pulled out a Poké coin and said, “Heads we go left first and tails we go right first.”

As everyone nodded, not having a better strategy in mind, Annika flipped the coin and it ended up on heads.

Annika, suggested, “Why doesn’t Marcy’s group head out first, They should head for the deeper parts of the forests, using stealth to stay out of the way of potentially dangerous wild Pokémon. Marcy, if you see any groups that look like they could be bandits, try to sneak up on them and then engage them. We want to take as many of them alive as possible. If any of them try to flee, try to track them back to their camp.”

Marcy nodded to Annika and then told her team, “Form up and head out. Jenny, cover us from the air and try to blend in like you are a wild Pokémon. You are the only one here not wearing a pack, so that should be easier for you.”

Jenny enthusiastically replied, “Yes ma’am!” She took to the sky as Marcy led Lilac and Lawrence forward into the Daedic Forests.

Alyssa then instructed Nia, Sylvester, Ty and Riccardo, “You four should stay nearby the main road and try to see if any bandits attempt to ambush you. If they do, engage them and follow the same procedures that Annika gave Marcy’s team. I will go with Annika and Eliza and try to stay between the two teams to keep them both in my range. If I catch a large group of Pokémon in my Aura Sense range who do not seem wild, we will try to regroup with at least one other team and then investigate that position. We do not want to get too worn down, so try to avoid fighting wild Pokémon if you can help it, especially large groups of them.”

Annika nodded to affirm what Alyssa had said and then Ty set off at the lead of the third team. They were headed up the main road, hoping to draw some opportunistic bandits out of hiding.

Eliza then said, “The three of us might as well get going then. I assume that we should at least stay within range of Marcy’s team so as to make sure that they have backup if they are engaged while deep within the forests.”

Annika nodded in agreement and then she and Alyssa followed Eliza, into the Daedic Forests.

Using Alyssa’s Aura Sense to avoid wild Pokémon and stay reasonably close to the other two teams, the team of three females made their way into the eastern Daedic Forests. The trees in this forest looked more like the ones Annika was used to then the trees along the coastline. Their leaves were a greenish-brownish color. The trees were not particularly tall for the most part. Their canopies thankfully allowed a decent amount of sunlight to shine onto the forest floor, even though the sun was somewhat obscured by their branches and leaves.

After around an hour and a half of walking, Eliza, who was holding the team’s map asked Annika and Alyssa, “I noticed that your team has two members with Mega Stones. Where did you get them?”

Annika replied, “I got Alyssa’s as a present for her before she evolved and well before we were wed. Marcy already had hers when she joined the CAS. A lot of valuable goods end up for sale in Creekside Town due to its status as the main port along Suicune’s River.”

Eliza nodded and then mentioned, “Assuming that things work out for the SAL, hopefully we can get Lilac one of those stones one of these days. I think a Sceptile could Mega Evolve with the right stone.”

Annika shrugged her shoulders, not being an expert on which species could Mega Evolve and which could not.

Suddenly, Alyssa stopped walking, the four organs on the back of her head raised and tensed. She closed her eyes and then told Annika and Eliza, “I have been noticing three lone auras flying above the canopy for some time. I now think that they might be bandit scouts. I have good news, bad news and neutral news.”

Eliza asked Alyssa, “Out with it…please.”

As Annika looked up at her concentrating wife, Alyssa answered, “The good news is that I think Marcy’s team is about to ambush a bandit patrol up ahead and to the south. The bad news is that Ty’s team is about to be engaged by another small group of outlaws. In that case, the criminals have the element of surprise. Fortunately, the outlaw band is equal in number to Ty’s team. The neutral news is that five bandits are heading our way fast. We need to prepare to engage them quickly!”

Annika pointed to a nearby clearing and said, “We should try to engage them there. I will take cover and try to snipe them. Alyssa, you and Eliza should hold the line.”

As the trio made for the clearing, Eliza said, “I will defer to your expertise in this matter, Annika. You have been doing this for longer than I have. Also, your coin toss turned out to lead us in the right direction since the bandits are here.”

The trio of adventuresses made it to the clearing, where Annika took cover in a bush and Alyssa confirmed that a nearby airborne Pokémon of some kind was directing the five bandits on the ground to their position. That meant that they were outnumbered two to one. However, thankfully, Annika and Alyssa were seasoned veterans. Eliza was the wildcard of their trio to some extent. Annika and Alyssa had never seen her fight before.

Alyssa and Eliza took up their positions in front of the bush Annika was hiding in. It did not take all that long for Alyssa to shout, “Here they come!”

A Bewear, two Stufful and two Seviper, covered from the air by a Golbat, burst into the clearing. The Bewear exclaimed, in a thick and deep voice, “A Lucario! That is how they knew we were coming! Take her out first!”

Eliza instinctively lunged at a Seviper, who quickly rushed at her as well. Annika burst out from the bush she had been hiding in and fired off a blast of frozen wind into the Golbat. The attack struck him dead on and sent him tumbling from the sky.

As Eliza howled instinctively and sliced into her foe with her claws, the other Seviper rushed in to help her ally. The Bewear and two Stufful charged at Alyssa.

Alyssa gripped her Mega Stone and quickly Mega Evolved. She then summoned up an Aura Sphere and sent it careening into the Bewear.

The blue ball of concentrated energy slammed right into the Bewear’s stomach. However, he was only staggered momentarily. He reach Alyssa and brought down one of his arms onto her shoulder. The blow was so strong that Alyssa was sent reeling. However, her opponent looked like he had injured his own arm and shoulder with the raw force he had brought down on Alyssa.

The two Stufful flanked Alyssa and battered at her with their forelimbs. However, their attacks barely seemed to get through her reinforced hide.

Annika saw Eliza dodge one Seviper’s tail swing and take a bite from the one she had injured before. Eliza then took one of her claws and delivered a brutal crushing blow to the injured Seviper’s head. Annika was convinced that Eliza had killed the serpentine bandit. However, she had to focus on helping her wife for the time being.

Annika leapt out of the bush and rushed a Stufful. One of her claws took on a metallic sheen as she sliced it into the bandit’s back. That opponent was distracted from attacking Alyssa and began to flail her limbs at Annika. However, the blows did little to the Weavile.

Alyssa struck the other Stufful in the face with her palm, knocking him unconscious in a single blow. However, the injured Bewear landed a second arm blow on her. This one targeting her stomach. Alyssa clutched her stomach and staggered back a bit.

Eliza was now dueling the surviving Seviper. Annika delivered a barrage of claw strikes to the Stufful she was fighting. The enemy collapsed with scars scattered across her face and abdomen.

The Bewear, who was still breathing heavily, saw that he was now outnumbered. He lunged at Alyssa one last time. However, Alyssa dodged his attack and planted a palm on the back of his head as he passed her. She channeled some energy though it and the weakened bandit fell to the forest floor unconscious.

Eliza took a strike from the Seviper’s venom-dripping tail. However, she was clearly still able to fight. With a nasty grimace on her face, she hacked into her enemy with both claws.

The Seviper was about to attack Eliza. However, she realized that she was now the only bandit left in the fight. She soon turned around and began to flee into the woods, leaving the fallen bodies of her comrades lying around the clearing.

Alyssa’s Mega-Evolution wore off and she reached out a hand to grab Eliza’s shoulder and stop her from chasing after the injured Seviper. Alyssa told Eliza, “We need to follow her and see if she reaches the bandit camp. We need to keep our distance as well.”

Eliza turned to Alyssa and seemed almost about to attack her. Then, she took a deep breath and said, “I understand. I must admit that the two of you are very strong fighters. You each brought down two enemies and we are all still standing.”

As Alyssa focused on her own body and a pulse of light began to rapidly heal her wounds, Annika asked her wife, “What happened to our other two teams?”

Alyssa raised and tensed her aura-sensing organs and closed her eyes. She then smiled and said, “Ty’s team got beaten up a bit. However, they knocked out three of the bandits who tried to ambush them and the last bandit is retreating. It seems as though they are currently engaging the enemy air scout who likely led the other four bandits to them. They should be able to deal with them, especially with Nia and Riccardo’s ranged attacks coming into play. Hopefully, they will follow the fleeing bandit into the forests where we can regroup with them.”

Eliza asked Alyssa, “What of the other team?”

Alyssa replied, “Marcy and her team managed to engage a patrol, which I believe consisted of four ground bandits and an air scout. As I would expect from Marcy and Lawrence, they defeated all five of their enemies. They seem to be waiting at the spot where they were victorious, possibly for us.”

Annika thought for a moment and then said, “We will go and meet up with Marcy’s team. Aly, keep an ‘eye’ on the fleeing Seviper bandit’s aura to see where she is headed. Eliza, mark this spot on the map if you can. We will need to keep in mind where the bandits we just defeated fell. That way, the survivors can be arrested later.”

Both Eliza and Alyssa saluted Annika. Alyssa then led the way towards Marcy’s team’s position. They would need to regroup, ideally with both of the other teams. Then, they would see if they could locate the main bandit camp and take it down.


	9. Finishing the Bandits

Annika, Alyssa and Eliza were making their way through the Daedic forests toward the place where Marcy and her team were waiting. Alyssa kept reporting that the two bandits who had managed to escape defeat were fleeing to the southeast. Ty’s team was chasing after one of them. The female Seviper bandit that Eliza had wounded was thankfully still within the range of Alyssa’s Aura Sense.

It was not too long until the trio burst into a clearing where they found Marcy, Lawrence, Jenny and Lilac watching over the unconscious bodies of a Golbat, a Kirlia, two Stufful and a Purrloin.

While her body had at first tensed for action upon sensing rustling in the bushes, Marcy relaxed herself quickly, sat down on her haunches and said to the trio, “It’s just the three of you, good. As you can see, we managed to ambush these enemies and knock the five of them out relatively easily. Jenny and Lilac did decently. Lilac is certainly well-trained at stealth for her age. Jenny provided good air cover for the rest of us and prevented the enemy air scout from getting away.”

Lilac and Jenny blushed slightly. Then Lawrence asked, “We were holding our position here, since none of our targets got away. Were you three attacked on your way here?”

Alyssa replied, “We were, but we emerged victorious. One enemy Seviper escaped narrowly. We are hoping to follow her to the bandit’s main camp. According to my Aura Sense, Ty’s team is pursuing a fleeing bandit deeper into the forests…. With their current trajectory, I think they will pass by a spot just to the south of here.”

Eliza suggested, “We should rendezvous with that team once they come close and then see if we can use Alyssa’s Aura Sense to chase at least one of those fleeing bandits back to their main camp. They seemed to have launched a coordinated attack against us using their Golbat scouts. Therefore, they are pretty competent as far as bandits go.”

Annika nodded and pointed out, “Eliza has a good plan. We at least hopefully know the general direction of their main camp now. To be fair, they could be trying to misdirect us. We will need to follow them in either case. Only one of the two fleeing bandits will know that we have a Lucario with us for sure. Also, she may have nowhere else to run to but her home base with all of her allies defeated.”

Alyssa volunteered, “I will make sure to rendezvous with Ty’s team once they get close, since I can pinpoint their position from a long range.”

Marcy suggested, “If we have time, we might want to drag the unconscious bandits Annika’s team knocked out over here so that we have them all in one place.”

Eliza ordered, “Jenny, Lilac, with me, we will go and see what we can do about dragging those defeated bandits over here.”

Lawrence volunteered, “I should be able to help with that, even with how short my arms are.”

The three SAL members and Lawrence rushed off to begin dragging their fallen foes towards the clearing where Marcy. Annika and Alyssa remained. It was not long until four unconscious bandits were dragged over. Eliza had been dragging the Bewear who had lead the attack on the trio earlier. Lawrence, Jenny and Lilac had taken care of the Golbat and the two Stufful.

Now that all of the soon-to-be prisoners were gathered in one place, Alyssa began to walk due south, telling the others, “I will collect our final four allies and then we will be off.”

Annika had learned to trust Alyssa’s sense by now. She said, “Understood, Aly. We will be here waiting for you.”

It felt like almost no time at all before Alyssa returned with Ty, Riccardo, Nia and Sylvester. Nia smiled and said, “Despite some of those cowardly criminals having tried to ambush us back nearby the main road, Ty and Riccardo proved themselves to be capable enough and we emerged victorious.”

Riccardo added, “Eliza, Princess Nia and Mr. Sylvester did a fine job of helping us defeat the bandit ambushers. One enemy Kirlia beat a hasty retreat once her allies began to drop in rapid succession. We were pursuing her at a distance when we found Miss Alyssa waiting for us. Her senses must really be incredible if she knew exactly where to wait for our arrival.”

Alyssa blushed slightly and replied, “It took me a good bit of practice to be able to do what I can now with my Aura Sense. You don’t want to know what it felt like when it first triggered upon my evolution. Regardless, We should be on our way. I can still sense the Kirlia Bandit. She is still heading to the southeast of here. We can’t afford to let her get out of my range!”

Annika and Eliza both nodded to each other and then rallied their subordinates to follow Alyssa. The fleeing female Seviper had escaped Alyssa’s range. Now, they could not afford to let bandit the Kirlia escape them.

Now that there were eleven Pokémon making their way through the Daedic forests, it was highly unlikely that all but the most territorial wild Pokémon would try to engage them in combat. Alyssa took the lead with everyone else in a loose formation behind her. Jenny was flying below the tree canopy, but above the other ten adventurers.

It seemed like less than a half-hour until Annika saw Alyssa stop and hold out a hand. As everyone stopped their advance and Jenny swooped down to hover next to Eliza, Alyssa focused intently and announced, “I can sense their main camp for sure now. There are seven auras there. I believe that one of them is the Seviper from before.”

As Eliza tensed up and bared her claws at the very mention of the Seviper, Annika suggested, “In that case, we should try to catch up to and knock out the bandit Kirlia before she makes it back to her camp. Splitting up their forces to try and take down all of our teams at once was a mistake for them after all.”

The adventurers continued their advance, now starting to jog so as to catch the fleeing Kirlia. Thankfully, their target had not been running for some time. She must have fallen under the mistaken impression that she was no longer being followed.

The eleven Pokémon continued their advance until they finally broke out of the forests’ eastern edge and found themselves in an open field covered by dark green grass. They saw the bandit Kirlia not that far in front of them. She was tiredly walking towards a small hill nor far from a tall cliff. Annika could see a waterfall cascading down part of the cliff. She could even hear its roar in the distance.

Eliza pointed to the Kirlia and ordered, “Take her down! We don’t want her alerting the camp to our presence. The Seviper should have returned by now.”

Alyssa nodded and added, “The bandit camp should be atop that hill. We will knock out this one foe and then assault it.”

Annika rushed forward and channeled a pulse of cold air between her claws. She then launched it forward, where it struck the tired Kirlia in the back, injuring and slowing her.

The Kirlia turned around and was greeted by a barrage of star shaped pulses from Jenny. Before she could call out for help, Lawrence brought her down with a barrage of steely needles fired from his “fur.”

As the bandit Kirlia collapsed unconscious, Marcy suggested, “I have an idea. I think I see a ring of tall boulders placed around the hilltop. However, I think that there is a spot near the back of the hill that is not blocked. The front of the hill also has some spots that are not covered by boulders. Why don’t I lead my team from earlier around the back, while the seven of you charge the front and get their attention. We will try to outflank the bastards and prevent their possible escape.”

Nia seemed expressionless as Lilac seemed pleased with Marcy’s idea. Annika replied, “As long as Eliza is alright with it, I am fine with it as well.”

Eliza nodded and said, “We will make a beeline for the hilltop as soon as you four find a place to take cover and begin to sneak around the boulder ring.”

Marcy nodded and then began to lead her team around the hill to an area where there were a few trees to use as cover for sneaking.

Sylvester exclaimed, once they could no longer see Marcy and her team, “We have uncovered the hidden bandit camp! Now, let’s finish this!”

Annika nodded and then Eliza suddenly took the lead, saying, “We are doing this to bolster my league’s reputation. I will lead the way with Ty and Riccardo.”

Annika nodded and saluted Eliza. Then, the seven Pokémon began their charge towards the hill. Once they were ascending the hill, they began to cry out, so as to get their enemy’s attention. Unlike Marcy and her team, they were no longer relying on stealth.

As Eliza began to lead the group up the hill, they saw a Liepard and the Seviper from before appear at the top of the hill between two boulders. They rushed down towards the adventurers.

Alyssa called out, “There are two enemies taking cover!” 

Suddenly, a pair of seeds were thrown by a pair of Purrloin each hiding behind a boulder. One of the seeds struck Riccardo and exploded, sending him onto his back. The other seed hit Ty, who just kept charging despite the explosion.

As Riccardo tried to get back up, Nia leapt in front of him and fired a beam of light from her eyes at one of Purrloin. However, the cold light stuck the bolder and froze a patch of it without injuring the hidden foe.

Annika saw Eliza charged ahead and begin to duel with the enemy Seviper once again. She conjured up a pulse of ice and fired it into the advancing Liepard, slowing and weakening her. The Liepard then took a high-pressure blast of water from Sylvester, but remained conscious.

As Riccardo began to get back up Ty charged the Liepard, forcing her to narrowly dodge his rock-hard skull. Alyssa Mega Evolved and charged up an Aura Sphere. She then sent it flying into one of the boulders. Annika realized that her wife had aimed at the boulder on purpose. Her attack had exposed one of the Purrloin who was surprised and unable to fling another blast seed.

Annika dodged a blast seed from the other Purrloin and then rushed in to help Ty against the Liepard. She buried her metallic claws into the foe’s side. As the Liepard howled in pain, Ty dropped her with a strike to the head from his hardened skull.

As for the Purrloin who’s cover had just been destroyed, Nia took aim at her and fired a second beam of cold light from her eyes. This time, her attack struck the enemy in the chest.

As the Purrloin was recovering, Riccardo stood up behind Nia and charged up a ball of cracking electricity above his head. He then threw the sphere into the injured Purrloin, knocking her out. Riccardo then told Nia, “Thank you very much! I owe you one, Princess.”

Nia replied, “Focus on finishing the fight for now. We can talk later.”

Riccardo nodded his agreement and then the two of them advanced up the hill together.

Eliza evaded her enemy’s poison-dripping tail again and then delivered a clean slash to the Seviper’s throat, ending her. Now, the last Purrloin was the only enemy left and she was not about to stick around.

As the Purrloin fled, Alyssa charged up another Aura Sphere and launched it up and over the boulders. The ball of pulsing blue energy arced downwards towards the Purrloin and knocked her out of the fight in one strike.

Eliza called out, “We can’t waste any time! There should still be three enemies left and they have to know that we are here by now!”

Annika nodded in agreement and the seven Pokémon managed to soon crest the hilltop.

Now that they were atop the, relatively flat, hill and past the boulder line, Annika and her allies saw around ten tents and two extinguished campfires. They also saw a large raft loaded with what appeared to be all kinds of portable loot on the mini-lake just beyond the tents. The waterfall from above was pouring water into the lake, which likely led to a river heading to the ocean. Standing in the camp were two Meditite, one of each sex, and a female Machoke.

The Machoke folded her arms and asked, “Who are all of you? If you are bounty hunters, then you are damn good ones.”

Eliza stepped forward and answered, “We are the Shawlia Adventurers’ League. We, along with some gracious associates of ours, have come here to put a stop to your depredations.”

The Machoke pointed to Eliza and said, “You, I think I know, Eliza. Your mother and father were two of the most feared and respected raiders in the region. …You must think that you can somehow redeem your past and become ‘respectable’ by brining my gang in. …You fool, you will never escape your past!”

The two Meditite seemed to concentrate intensely. Then, the Machoke rushed headlong at Eliza, who did the same to the bandit leader.

Annika told her comrades, “Focus on the Meditite! We outnumber them, our main goal should be to ensure that no enemies escape with their ill-gotten gains.”

The two Meditite ducked behind nearby tents as Eliza took a kick directly to the stomach. While the Zangoose doubled over, Riccardo called out, “Ty, we have to help her!”

Ty nodded and went barreling towards the Machoke. He rammed one of her legs with his head, which barely seemed to injure her.

Alyssa, whose Mega Evolution had worn off, with Annika right behind her, ran to one of the tents where a Meditite had hidden. She was suddenly stuck by a surprisingly strong jumping kick from the female Meditite.

As Alyssa staggered back, Sylvester took a similar attack after rushing towards the other foe’s cover.

Nia’s body glowed with black light as she darted around the tent to flank the Meditite and strike him from behind. Sylvester recovered quickly and slashed into his foe with a shell-shaped blade.

Annika ran bravely in front of Alyssa and then charged her claws with dark energy. She then hacked into her enemy’s sides. Alyssa conjured up her bone staff and began to strike the Meditite with it.

As for the Machoke, she withstood a lightning blast from Riccardo and a claw strike from Eliza. She then brought one of her hands down on Ty with a mighty chop. The attack pounded him into the ground and almost knocked him out.

Nia narrowly dodged a jump kick from the Meditite she was fighting. The Meditite on the other side of the camp glared at Annika and then struck her with a palm strike akin to the ones Alyssa often employed.

Annika felt her body reeling as she was knocked back and badly wounded. The enemy Meditite withstood a few rapid strikes from Alyssa’s bone staff. However, she was looking worn down now.

Nia and Sylvester both delivered attacks to their foe only to see him still standing. However, Jenny suddenly flew up into view and finished the Meditite with a barrage of energy stars.

The Machoke realized that one of her allies had fallen. She then grabbed Eliza’s arm and threw her backwards towards the main entrance of the camp. Riccardo then missed the bandit’s leader narrowly with a ball of lightning.

As Eliza struggled to get back up, the Meditite who Annika and Alyssa had been fighting was struck by a large blast of electricity sent down by Lawrence, who had just appeared on the scene, and fainted.

With Lilac right behind her, the now Mega Evolved, Marcy charged in to view. The two females blocked the way past the main tent to the Machoke’s raft. Now, the bandit leader was alone.

The Machoke shouted, “If you all think that I am going to prison, you have another thing coming! She then sprinted right at Marcy, evading a rapid strike from Lilac. The Machoke tried to kick Marcy out of her way, but the Absol looked as calm as ever.

Marcy, moving with impressive speed and grace dodged the Machoke’s attack and then countered with a psychically-charged attack from her head scythe. This attack slowed the Machoke down enough that Lawrence could nail her with a blast of electricity. Nia and Sylvester followed up with their ranged energy attacks as they ran over to corner their foe.

The Machoke fell to one knee, injured badly. She tried to get up slowly. However, Jenny shouted, “Lights out, you crook!”

Right after Lilac delivered a strike to one of the Machoke’s legs, Jenny swooped down and delivered an extremely fast punch to the lead bandit’s head.

Finally, after having withstood a barrage of attacks, the Machoke collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Eliza and Ty both stood up and slowly made their way over to the spot near the water’s edge where the bandit leader had fallen. Eliza then took a deep breath and announced, “I think it’s finally over!”

Annika got up and nodded, saying, “We should get these outlaws over to the clearing where we left the others. Then, we will find a way to march and drag them to the main road and turn them all in to the authorities.”

Riccardo told Eliza, “I hope that you don’t take what the bandits’ leader said too seriously, boss. We did a good thing here today. Now, we just need to recover the loot and get it and the defeated bandits back to Shawlia.”

Jenny seemed over the moon that she had dealt the final blow to the outlaw leader. Lilac also looked pretty happy with how things had turned out. The Daedic Bandits had been stopped with no permanent casualties among either adventuring organization.

Annika looked over the situation and said, “A number of us need some rest. Still, we might need to walk off our injuries for now. We have to get back to the clearing before the enemies we have left there start to wake up and heal up.”

Alyssa pointed out, “Since they are still alive, I can pinpoint their direction through my Aura Sense. We can only hope that the bandits left defeated by the main road do not have the chance to escape before we can get back over there.” 

Slowly but surely, the elven adventurers got to work collecting the stolen loot and unconscious bandits they were to transport back to Shawlia. During that time, Alyssa made sure to heal Annika, Sylvester, Eliza, Ty and herself with her pulses of healing energy. The adventurers knew that they would need to drag their new captives back to the clearing where they had the others. From there, they would probably have to allow some enemies to wake up and then march them back to the main road. They would possibly even utilize their captives’ help in carrying and dragging those who remained unconscious.


	10. Returning to Shawlia

It was afternoon by the time that the procession reached the main road leading to Shawlia City. Annika and her five comrades were escorting a number of weakened, but conscious, captive bandits and dragging the ones who remained unconscious. The conscious bandits had all been bound with ropes and chains and blindfolded. In some cases, they had also been gagged. The captured Golbat had their wings bound and were “riding” some of the captive Stufful.

Eliza was at the head of the procession with her four SAL comrades right behind her. She was impressively dragging the bandit Bewear who Alyssa had knocked out and who was still out cold behind her. Alyssa was dragging the bandit’s Machoke leader, who was still unconscious herself. the adventurers were tired, but their foes were even worse for wear. That and the bandits’ demoralization was what they counted on to ensure that their foes would not try to escape their captivity more than their physical bonds.

By the time that the procession reached the Southern Gate of Shawlia City, they noticed that the usual guards had been reinforced with four more officers, who seemed to be discussing something.

One of the Stonjourner guards suddenly pointed to the procession. As the officers turned their gaze south, a male Boltund wearing particularly large and shiny Shawlia City Watch badge walked out in front of the other officers. He looked suspiciously over at the procession of adventurers and prisoners.

Annika and her team kept pressing their captives forward, but they made sure to not draw too much attention to themselves. Annika had a strong feeling that the Boltund was Zoltar, the Captain of the Shawlia City Watch.

The Boltund cleared his throat and spoke in a reasonably deep and growling voice. He asked, “Eliza, was it you who was behind the bandits that some travelers on the road found left unconscious and brought to my officers?”

As Annika felt relieved that the bandits Ty’s team had defeated had been brought to justice, Eliza took a deep breath and dropped the Bewear’s arm. She then puffed up her chest a bit and told the Boltund, “Captain Zoltar, I was certainly not involved with those ruffians. Seeing as though nobody else had been able to find the outlaws’ base, my league managed to enlist the aid of some visiting adventurers’ to locate the criminals’ camp and defeat them in combat. We also recovered a significant amount of goods and money stolen by the criminals.”

Zoltar simply nodded and told his officers, “One of you go get further backup so to aid in prisoner transportation. The rest, secure the outlaws and get them to our prison for holding until further notice.” He then sighed and told Eliza, “I don’t know what you are trying to prove and to whom, Eliza. You are the spawn of criminal scum. You will never erase that stain on your existence. Still, It seems as though you managed to make something of your so-called ‘adventurers’ league’ this time. You and your allies can turn over the bandits and the goods to us. We will ensure that the appropriate compensation is delivered to your base.”

Eliza had been understandingly glaring back at Zoltar. However, she regained some semblance of composure and replied, as the Shawlia City Watch officers moved in to take the bandits and their loot away, “The Shawlia Adventurers’ League is simply trying to do its part in making the region a safer and more prosperous place for civilized Pokémon. We and our visiting friends took down the bandits, not your watch, or anyone else for that matter.”

Zoltar glared daggers into Eliza. He then spun around and snarled, “You will get what is due to you in terms of payment. Just know that we in the watch know what you are, Eliza. Why anyone would follow you is beyond my belief.”

Annika considered saying something to Zoltar to try and defend Eliza. However, she thought better of it, since she and her team were visitors in his city. Looking at her comrades as the captured bandits were taken away by the watch officers, she noticed that Marcy looked incensed regarding how Zoltar had spoken to Eliza. Annika knew that Marcy certainly believed in second chances, considering her own past misdeeds.

Once the bandits and the recovered loot were all taken away, Eliza said to Annika and her team, “Thank you all for your help. Especially you, Alyssa. I honestly do not think we could have pulled such a big operation off without the CAS helping us. You will get some of the money we earn from the ‘job.’ I promise you that.”

After all four of Eliza’s subordinates nodded in agreement, Riccardo stepped forward and awkwardly asked Nia, “So… in terms of repaying your brave defense of my person before, would you be interested in having dinner with me tonight at a nice café by the beach that I know well… I would pay for everything, of course.”

All eyes were suddenly on Riccardo and Nia. Annika was admittedly surprised when the Ice Vulpix replied, “Sure. That sounds nice. We should probably head back into the city first. Lady Annika will want us to get back to our hotel for now. I will meet you in the lobby this evening.”

Riccardo looked overjoyed as the eleven Pokémon reentered Shawlia City. Eliza suggested that they all regroup at the SAL Headquarters late the next morning. Hopefully, the local government would have processed the appropriate payment and sent it to the SAL HQ’s address by the end of the day tomorrow.

Eliza still seemed down about the way that Zoltar had treated her in their conversation. Her subordinates, even the usually taciturn and doubtful Lilac, tried to cheer her up as best as they could.

Annika was just happy that the plan had gone about as well as it could have. The Daedic Bandits had actually been a reasonably formidable force. However, the CAS and SAL members had been able to defeat the detachments of outlaws each time that they had clashed. The SAL was probably going to get most of the credit as per the plan. That had been why Annika had ultimately been ok with the CAS not being mentioned by name. She had been worried that if Zoltar or his officers had easily realized who the CAS Pokémon were, they would have a solid excuse to credit Annika’s organization and discount the SAL’s role in the mission’s success. The possibility of that happening still worried her to some extent. She was starting to see that Eliza was haunted enough by her past that the only thing that angered her more than bringing it up was the presence of a Seviper, her species’ ancient enemies. Annika earnestly hoped that one day, Eliza would be able to fully move past her criminal upbringing.

The six CAS members returned to the Oceanic Bathhouse and Hotel that early evening. Everyone except for Nia plopped their packs down in their rooms and then headed to the baths to rest and relax a bit. Nia was going to prepare for her semi-impromptu dinner with Riccardo. The Anetisian Princess had confirmed that she was indeed going to through with it and that she had no regrets with having said yes to the evening out with the SAL’s head researcher.

Annika and Alyssa fell asleep in each other’s arms that night after eating dinner with Marcy, Lawrence and Sylvester. Nia was still not back as far as they knew. However, they had no obvious reason to fear for the girl’s safety, so they did not think much of her absence.

The next morning, Annika and Alyssa woke up and then met up with Sylvester, Marcy and Lawrence on their floor. They were able to confirm that Nia was not in her room and began to get slightly concerned.

As the group of five Pokémon made their way down the stairs to the lobby of the hotel, Sylvester mentioned, “I wonder where Nia is? We should ask the staff if they have seen her since last evening.”

Lawrence pointed out, “She can usually handle herself. She was out with Riccardo last evening. When we visit the SAL HQ today, we should see if Riccardo is there. If he is also missing, then something may be up. If he is there, then we can ask him what happened with Nia last night.”

Alyssa closed her eyes and shook her head for a bit, seemingly to clear her mind. She then opened her eyes told her comrades, “No need to worry about Nia, I sense her aura in the lobby.”

As everyone breathed a small sigh of relief, Marcy noted, “I hope that she can explain why she was out so late, possibly all night. It does not seem becoming of a Princess to spend an entire night out partying.”

As Marcy chuckled a bit at the end of her statement, Annika pointed out, “Nia is an ‘interesting case’ to be sure. Still, for someone who grew up near-constantly pampered and attended to, she is a brave warrior, as we were reminded yesterday. It might have been that display of bravery that convinced Riccardo to actually ask her out.”

Alyssa added, “It should not take Aura Sense to see how fascinated with Nia Riccardo was from the second he laid eyes on her. Anyway, I guess we will have to ask her what happened ourselves.”

Annika and Alyssa led their group into the lobby, where they found Nia sitting down on a long “chair” designed for reclining, or alternatively for members of longer species. Nia stood up, hopped off of the chair and looked over her five comrades.

Before anyone could say anything, the Princess and adventuress simply said, “As you all can see, I am just fine. I assume that all of you were concerned about me, but there is nothing to worry about. I did not break any orders from Lady Annika by staying out and I returned to the hotel when I was ready to do so. …I might need a nap later today. Still, there is nothing to be worried about. Why don’t we go and get some breakfast?”

Alyssa’s eyes narrowed and her four aura-sensing organs tensed. However, she quickly calmed herself and nodded, seemingly in agreement with Nia.

Annika gave Alyssa a brief confused look. However, she trusted her wife instinctively, despite knowing that Alyssa had kept something important from her before. It seemed like there was nothing else to talk about for the moment. Annika ordered, “We will all go and get some breakfast now. Then, we will make our way to the SAL’s headquarters and see if our pay has come in. We will see where things go from there.”

Nia seemed obviously relieved. She then led her comrades over to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Over breakfast, Nia told the other five members of the CAS away team some things Riccardo had told her about over dinner. Apparently, the two closest port cities on the northern coast of Adalsia were both smaller than Shawlia. They were both rivals, but not enemies, of Shawlia and of each other in terms of vying for commercial and cultural status. One of the rival cities considered the incarnation of the oceans, Lady Kyogre, to be their patron. The other considered the enigmatic Sea Guardian known as the Lady Lugia to be their primary object of worship. It seemed like Shawlia had many trading partners on foreign landmasses. However, she had few real allies on the Adalsian Continent proper at the moment. It was currently unclear how much of a liability that would be for the city in the future.

As Annika listened to Nia’s explanations, she wondered if there were any truly secular communities in this world run by humans or by Pokémon. It seemed like every major community she had visited and taken the time to learn about venerated some object of worship. She wondered when, if ever, worship traditions would fall away in this world. Maybe her frustrations with religion would be something that she would have to take to her grave. At the back of her mind, she also wondered if Arceus had ever really existed. Palkia had mentioned a “hunt for Arceus.” Maybe she was trying to find her supposed creator and confirm their reality, or fictitiousness, for all Annika knew.

After breakfast, the six Pokémon headed south through the city once again. Their goal was to reach the SAL Headquarters. On the way there, Alyssa had whispered to Annika that she had sensed something unique in Nia’s aura that morning. It was a lot like what she sensed in Annika after the young couple spent a night together. Annika wondered how exactly things had gone down between Nia and Riccardo the last night. However, she decided not to probe into Nia’s private business for the time being.

When the CAS Away Team reached the SAL Headquarters, it was Lilac who answered the door this time. The Treecko girl let Annika and her five comrades into the lobby of the old miners’ barracks.

Annika noticed that quite a few large pouches of money had been placed around the room, Jenny and Ty were each counting through a pouch. Riccardo was getting a series of smaller pouches together on a table. Eliza was looking over the whole scene from behind the table.

Once all of the CAS members were in the room and the door was shut and locked behind them, Eliza smiled at her guests and said, “Good to see you all. It seems as though we have been well rewarded by the local government for our efforts yesterday. Our payment was quickly processed and arrived here bright and early this morning. Riccardo is getting the reward money for the six of you ready now. He is a bit tired, though. It seems like he was out all night last night and got no sleep.”

Jenny added, as Riccardo somewhat sleepily finished gathering six medium-sized money pouches together on the table and then smiled tiredly over at Annika and company.

Annika and her five comrades walked over to the table and made sure to each retrieve their money pouches. As they did so, Jenny happily exclaimed, “We made way more money in that job than from any of our earlier contracts! Maybe more than all of them combined!”

Ty added, “It is quite the impressive haul. I am starting to think that the Daedic Bandits were made up of multiple smaller gangs that banded together under that Machoke leader. A lot of those criminals must have had independent bounties on their heads. That might explain some of our sudden and impressive financial good fortune.”

Riccardo yawned and then said to the CAS members, after trying and failing to suppress a warm smile aimed clearly at Nia, “You all have certainly earned those pouches. We really could not have done what we did yesterday without your society.”

Lilac admitted, “Reaching out to you all really was a genius idea. Our little league may very well have a real future now that we are the ones seen as responsible for defeating the Daedic Bandits. I finally feel proud to be a member of the SAL after yesterday’s success.”

Eliza told Annika and her comrades, “Your help has been invaluable. However, assuming that more jobs for us start to come in, I have a request to ask of you all.”

Annika, as her comrades counted through their newly-earned coins, asked Eliza, “What is it?”

Eliza asked Annika and her team, “I am hoping that the six of you can stay in Shawlia for at least another week or so. Unless the SAL is contracted for a job that seems undoable without your assistance, I am hoping that your society will help us in a more advisory role, rather than what we did in our last mission. I want my league to be able to prove to ourselves and others that we can take on more adventuring work and succeed without a ‘cushion’ of sorts. You all have been incredibly gracious and I appreciate all of your support. I know that Zoltar and many others still do not trust me and my team. However, I want us to be able to earn the community’s trust mostly by ourselves from now on.”

All eyes were on Annika who smiled warmly at Eliza and replied, “I understand everything you just said, Eliza. You want to make sure that your league is able to handle itself again once we have left and for months, if not years, to come. We will stick around for at least another week or two and help advise your league within reason. We will need some cut of your pay to compensate us and to make sure we can continue to afford our hotel stay and our passage back to the Grand Island. After that, we will depart this city. Hopefully, by then, your league will be in a much better place than it was when we arrived. Do we have a deal?”

Eliza nodded and then shook Annika’s claw. As the two leaders were shaking claws, Marcy mentioned, “Eliza, I just want you to know that I felt terrible listening to the City Watch Captain demeaning you like that. You are trying to turn your life around and you deserve some respect for that. I am sure that I speak for at least most of the CAS when I say that.”

Sylvester added, “Also, we are happy to have helped some fellow adventurers. I hope that even after we have left this place, your team will continue to make new discoveries and help keep this region safe from evildoers.”

Eliza seemed almost about to tear up as Lawrence said, “With any luck, your league can spread the word about what you helped to accomplish and earn some more contracts.”

Alyssa suggested, “Why don’t all of us go out for dinner tonight as a group. We can celebrate our victory and discuss the SAL’s future growth strategy more then.”

Everyone nodded excitedly. Riccardo and Nia both mentioned needing to take naps soon in that case, so that they could be up late that night if it came to it. Jenny said that she knew of a restaurant near the center of the city that would be good for the occasion. She soon buzzed off to find it and make the necessary reservation for a large table. Lilac suggested that the SAL members could pick up the CAS away team at their hotel that early evening.

After spending much of the morning at the SAL Headquarters and after Jenny returned, having made their reservation for that evening, Annika and her team made sure that all of their well-earned pay was collected. They then returned their newly-earned money to their hotel rooms. Nia went off to take a long nap. Lawrence and Marcy headed down to the beach. Annika and Alyssa went to spend some time together in one of the smaller baths at the hotel.

That evening, all eleven CAS and SAL Pokémon in Shawlia met up for dinner at a large restaurant in central Shawlia. They spent an enjoyable evening together sharing adventure stories and getting to know each other better. Annika noticed that Nia had sat herself down next to Riccardo, but said nothing of it.

After dinner, the two teams split up and returned to their lodgings. Annika felt as though her society had done a good job and the right thing by aiding the SAL so far. Hopefully, they could continue to advise the fledgling league for a little bit longer. Then, they would hopefully return home. Annika fell asleep that night wondering when she and Alyssa would have to talk about Alyssa’s vacation idea again. She wondered where her wife would like to go and how soon it would be after they returned to Creekside.


	11. A Plan to Part Ways

It was the last day of the second week of the CAS Away Team’s stay in Shawlia. Over the last week and a half, they had enjoyed their stay in the city. They had also done their best to advise and support the Shawlia Adventurers’ League as the small organization began to earn more contracts and rapidly gain respect among the local Shawlians.

While earning some money themselves from the SAL’s completed contracts as per the rough agreement they had made with Eliza the day after the defeat of the Daedic Bandits, the CAS members had done their best to provide advice and some more direct support to the SAL. Sylvester and Nia had gone with the SAL on a couple of contracts, seeing as though they needed the experience more than the rest of the away team. One good piece of news for the SAL had been that Lilac had evolved from a Treecko to a Grovyle soon after the joint mission in the Daedic Forests. Ty seemed to believe that he was due to evolve reasonably soon himself. Jenny had expressed feeling the same way recently.

Now it was late morning and Annika and Alyssa were relaxing together on Shawlia’s public beach. Annika, possibly because of her former humanity, quite enjoyed the sand and sun more than a Weavile arguably should. Not far from the young couple were Marcy and Lawrence. Sylvester was in the water and Nia was walking with Riccardo not far away. It had become obvious to everyone that Nia and Riccardo were engaged in some sort of “fling.” However, Nia had not revealed to her CAS comrades to what end she was pursuing the affair. Riccardo had to know that she would leave soon. Maybe the chance to have been with a princess, even just for a couple of weeks, had been too much for him to pass up?

Before heading out to the beach that day, Annika had told her comrades that the day before she and Alyssa had informed Eliza of their intent to leave Shawlia as soon as they could book passage back to the Grand Island. Annika believed that it would not be too hard for them to find a ship leaving for either Dralka Town, or one of the southern coast’s ports, in the next couple of days.

Lawrence seemed ready to get back to Creekside. Marcy had not said much, Alyssa seemed to feel as though the Cas Away Team had fulfilled its purpose and was ready to return home. Nia had not said much, other than that she would follow Annika’s orders as always. Sylvester admitted to wanting to see his family back in Creekside again. As for Annika, she was certainly interested in seeing how Drake, Ryan, Linda and Rocco were doing and whether or not Leo and Sapphire had finally returned to Creekside. She also felt as though the reason she and her team had come to Shawlia had been fulfilled. She wanted to sleep in her own bed at home again. That was despite the fact that the beds at the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse were really quite nice.

As Annika was lying on her back on a towel with her eyes closed, she heard a buzzing noise and stood up. She looked around and saw Alyssa, who had been napping, opening her eyes and standing up next to her. The young couple saw a female Ledian hovering in front of them.

The Ledian smiled at Annika and Alyssa. She then said, in Jenny’s voice, “Eliza wanted me to deliver a message to your team. We know that you were preparing to leave Shawlia soon. However, the local governing council has given us a big contract and we were hoping that you could go with us one last time before you return to the Grand Island.”

Annika folded her arms and asked the newly-evolved Jenny, “What is the mission? If we went with you, we would certainly need to be appropriately compensated. I hope that it is not too urgent.”

Jenny replied, “Eliza has the full details of the contract. I will say for now that the city council has contracted us to visit the Hilltop Shrine to Arceus located just south of the Daedic Forests. It should take just less than a day of walking for us to reach it. It sounded to me like they have lost contact with the attendants recently and want us to investigate the situation.”

Annika sighed deeply as Alyssa gave her a slight look. She thought, “I don’t mind the idea of one going on one last mission with the SAL. However, we will be going to investigate and possibly help a shrine dedicated to Arceus. …Still, there could be someone there in need of our help. With all eleven of us, most enemies won’t stand a chance. I guess that we can set off tomorrow with the SAL.”

Alyssa told Jenny, “I think that we will meet with Eliza at your headquarters this afternoon. Please tell her that we will come over with Riccardo as soon as we are ready. Right, Annika?”

Annika nodded in agreement with her wife and told Jenny, “We will go on one more mission with your league. Then, we will be heading back home to Creekside Town.”

Jenny saluted Annika and Alyssa. She then buzzed off back towards Shawlia proper.

Once Jenny was out of earshot, Annika asked Alyssa, “You intended to the help the SAL on this mission with or without me, didn’t you?”

Alyssa nodded and replied, “I know how you feel about religion, Annika. To be honest, I am still unsure of how productive it really is myself. When I was with the AML, I thought that they would be the ones to make a real difference. When that turned out to be a lie, I focused myself on trying to improve the world through the more mundane means of working in the CAS. Still, if the attendants at the shrine need our help, then we should not refuse to aid them on account of anyone’s personal prejudices.”

Annika simply nodded and then told her wife, “We should gather everyone, explain the situation to them and then make our way over the SAL HQ. Eliza can get us all fully up to speed then.”

Annika and Alyssa gathered Marcy, Lawrence and Sylvester relatively quickly. Then, they managed to locate Nia and Riccardo, who were slightly annoyed that their beach walk had been interrupted. However, they agreed to come quickly when they learned that the SAL had received a government contract and had requested the aid of the CAS for the journey south to the Hilltop Shrine.

Soon, Annika led her away team, along with Riccardo, off of the beach. After a quick stop at the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse to deposit some things and get cleaned up, the procession of seven Pokémon made their way south through Shawlia City. They managed to arrive at the SAL Headquarters, where Lilac opened the door for them.

Once everyone was inside, they met up with Eliza, Jenny and Ty, who had been waiting for them. Eliza, who had been looking at a scroll that Annika assumed was a contract from the Shawlian government, looked up and smiled at Annika and her comrades. She began, “As I am sure Jenny told you, we have received our first ever government contract from the city council. I will explain it in full. The city of Shawlia’s tax money pays for the upkeep of a small affiliated shrine on a hilltop just beyond the Daedic Forests. The shrine has always been considered a safe stopping point for travelers on their way to Shawlia from the south, or leaving the city and heading south in the direction of Mount Galtia. However, nothing has been heard from the shrine’s attendants via courier for the last few days now. To make matters more concerning, the city has been seeing a steady decline in visitors from the direct south for months now. At this point, that number has become less than a trickle. The city council has been concerned by these developments and wonders if they are connected to their loss of contact with the settlements in the vicinity of Mount Galtia even earlier. As for the actual contract, we are to set out, ideally bright and early tomorrow morning, to visit the shrine and ascertain what has happened there. It could be related to wild Pokémon, outlaws, or a rival settlement. If we can aid any of the attendants, then we will do so and escort them back to Shawlia if we deem it necessary.”

As Eliza took a very deep breath, Marcy surmised, “I certainly sense a trend. It sounds like something bad is happening to the south of Shawlia. Who or whatever is causing it has been doing a good job of not letting those who get in its way escape to warn others.”

Sylvester added, “This sounds like a proper mystery, one that I hope we can solve. I wonder what could be behind this situation? I think that a rampaging Legendary Pokémon or a massive wild horde would not be strategically smart enough to prevent the escape of their enemies.”

Ty pointed out, “Let’s not jump to conclusions, everyone. The status of the regions directly to the south of here and the loss of contact with the shrine could be unrelated. We will hopefully find out what really happened when we reach the shrine.”

Annika nodded and told everyone present, “We will help your league on this mission, Eliza. Thanks to Alyssa, we will be almost impossible to ambush if we stick together. I will have my team here as early as we can make it tomorrow morning. From there, we will set off for the shrine and endeavor to make it there by the end of the day.”

Nia admitted, “It will be nice to go on one more mission with the SAL. I don’t pretend to know what happened at the shrine. However, knowing that Lady Annika and Miss Alyssa will be helping to lead the mission, we should be fine.”

Lawrence agreed, “With all eleven of us together, we should be able to deal with any threat that arises in the vicinity of the shrine. Or on the way there, for that matter.”

Annika nodded along as her comrades and the SAL members all seemed to believe that the mission to investigate the shrine was within their capabilities. However, she was definitely concerned about the situation. She knew that she and her team could not leave Shawlia in good conscience if the city was possibly under threat from an outside entity. The questions that now plagued her mind were: was there even a hostile entity of some power to the south of Shawlia? If so what was it, or them? And, finally, what did it, or they, want?

Sylvester seemed excited to unravel a real mystery. Annika had known ever since she had met and recruited him that he had an interest in uncovering hidden truths and exposing them to the world. Hopefully, the new joint mission would uncover what had been behind the loss of contact with the Hilltop Shrine. With some luck, it would just turn out to be wild Pokémon or outlaws. With more luck, it would turn out to be an oversight on the part of the attendants. However, the local government employing adventurers instead of an airborne courier to investigate proved that they thought that there could very well be a hostile force in or around the shrine that needed to be cleared out. Maybe the SAL was still viewed as just expendable enough that they could be sent and if they did not return, the Shawlian government would know something was wrong and send a larger force in? Thankfully, Annika and her team would be accompanying the SAL to the shrine. Together, they would uncover the truth, whatever it was.

The CAS and SAL members confirmed their plan for the next day and then Annika’s team went to go get a late lunch. Then, they planned to return to their hotel and get their packs ready for the next day’s mission.

There had been one last thing that Eliza had told the CAS Away Team before they left the SAL HQ. That was that apparently, the contract she had been given by the city council had asked the SAL to not spread the fact that they had lost contact with the Hilltop Shrine to the locals until after they returned from their mission. Eliza was also to report her team’s findings directly to the city council immediately upon their return. The given logic behind these orders was that the city council did not want the citizens of Shawlia and the city’s foreign guests to worry unduly. As Annika fell asleep next to Alyssa that night, she just hoped that there was nothing for the Shawlians to worry about occupying the Hilltop Shrine now.


	12. The Hilltop Shrine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, I should note here that this chapter is essentially when this story's main plot kicks in. Regarding the content of this chapter and the ones soon to follow, I should remind readers of the disclaimer I made regarding religion and the nature of this story in the opening notes. Anyway, thank you all for reading.

The next morning, after having eaten a quick and early breakfast, Annika led the CAS Away Team through Shawlia with their packs all ready. Not wanting to waste any time, the six-member procession made its way to the headquarters of the Shawlia Adventurers’ League. Once they arrived there, they were greeted by the five members of the SAL, who were just finishing up their final preparations for the day’s mission.

Eliza smiled over at Annika and her team and told them, “It looks like all of you are ready to move out. As for us, we are nearly ready to go.”

Riccardo added, “Regardless of what we find at the shrine, our league will always be in your debt. The six of you are responsible for getting us to the point where we could even be considered for this contract. We do not intend to let you down in any way.”

Ty, who was still a Cranidos at the moment, then called out from behind Eliza and Riccardo, “We should be all ready to move out now! We have no time to waste if we want to reach the shrine by the time the sky darkens.”

Jenny added, “With the Daedic Bandits defeated, we should have an easy time getting to the shrine if we just follow the main road through the center of the forests.”

Lilac asked, “What will our formation look like?”

Eliza ordered, “Since our league was given the contract, I will march at the head of the formation. Jenny, you provide air cover, Lilac and Ty will be behind me. Riccardo, you can stay nearby Nia behind the rest of us.”

Nia and Riccardo both blushed as Annika told her comrades, “Aly and I will stay up front just behind Eliza. Nia can stay with Riccardo and bring up the rear. Marcy and Lawrence will be somewhere in the middle close to Ty and Lilac. Sylvester can go in between Ty and Lilac just behind Alyssa and I. Does that sound good to everyone?”

Ty responded, “It sounds like a rough plan. Still, if we are not expecting to be attacked on the road and have access to Alyssa’s Aura Sense, then we should not have to keep too tight of a formation.”

Eliza said, “We should be on our way now. Once we come out of the Daedic Forests’ southern edge, we won’t be far from the hill. We should be able to ascend it via the main road and reach the shrine that way.”

As everyone was heading out towards the southern gate of Shawlia, Alyssa pointed out, “Once we reach the foot of the hill, I should be able to sense whoever might currently be occupying the shrine.”

Lilac added, “Whatever misfortune might have befallen the attendants could have been caused by a hit and run attack. There may not even be anyone left at the shrine now.”

As she was hovering above the procession nearing the southern gate, Jenny replied, “That was a pretty morbid thing for you to say, Lilac. Still, the fact the attendants have not been heard from at all recently is worrisome.”

Nia pointed out, “That’s why we are here. I have confidence that our teams together can take on whoever is responsible and ascertain the truth of the situation.”

Sylvester, who had looked to be deep in thought, mentioned, “I do have one new thing to suggest on the matter. I feel as though it is unlikely that the shrine was raided by outlaws. In my experience, criminals do not tend to target religious sites. They are superstitious enough to not want to bring down the wrath of a slighted Legendary Pokémon upon them. Even though Arceus has not been sighted in the material world in any of our lifetimes, their status as our world’s creator deity is not in dispute. I doubt that most outlaws would consider whatever meager resources they could steal from the shrine to be worth the potential for some sort of divine retribution to be visited upon them at a later date.”

Marcy added, “I think that the kid has a good point. I have been wondering if cultists akin to the Reavers of Yveltal could be involved. However, even they would be unlikely to want to possibly invoke the anger of Arceus. I think that whoever attacked the shrine, if that is what happened, is someone who does not fear divine retribution or care about the worship of Arceus. Maybe it was wild Pokémon after all?”

As the procession reached and exited the southern gate of Shawlia, Annika wondered what the point of all the speculation was other than as a subject of conversation. Barring truly unforeseen circumstances, they were going to learn the truth by the day’s end. Once the adventurers reached the shrine, it would be up to them to decide how to proceed based on the evidence, and possibly enemies, that they found.

The elven-member expedition made its way south through the Daedic Forests. Alyssa kept scanning the vicinity for any wild Pokémon who might want to attack the group. Thankfully, the safety of numbers and sticking to the main road together meant that no wild Pokémon tried to attack the adventurers as they made their way south.

One thing that Annika noticed was that they did not encounter that many other travelers along the road. They stopped to briefly talk to every small group of travelers they encountered. However, all of them had come on to the road from a side path. None of them had come from directly south. Many of them spoke of a concerning loss of communication and trade with the regions due south of the hills just past the Daedic Forests. None of them knew what had caused it and what could have happened to the Hilltop Shrine. Annika was starting to get more and more worried about what was going on. It was becoming even harder for her to think that the loss of contact between Shawlia and the shrine was a coincidence.

As the expedition team made its way south, the day wore on. Morning turned into afternoon, which turned into early evening by the time that they reached the southern edge of the Daedic Forests. The road continued south and began to slope upwards onto a somewhat-steep hill covered in dark green grass with the occasional tree jutting out.

Eliza stopped the procession just before they were about to begin ascending the hill. She looked everyone over and then asked Alyssa, “The shrine should be at the top of this hill just directly off of the main road. Could you see if you can sense anyone up there? I would rather us not walk into a trap if there is one awaiting us atop the hill, or on the way up.”

By the time that Eliza was done speaking, Alyssa had closed her eyes and the four black organs on the back of her head were tensed. Alyssa seemed to grimace a bit, making Annika move closer to her wife. She was worried about what Alyssa might have sensed in the vicinity.

When Alyssa opened her eyes and her aura sensing organs fell back into their usual position, she said, “There is definitely somebody up there. I sensed nine auras atop the hill. They all seem alert and ready for something. I am worried that that something is us.”

Eliza asked, “Whoever they are, how did they realize we were coming without Alyssa noticing?”

At that, Jenny pointed upwards and said, “Guys, if you squint a bit, you might be able to see a flight of three avian Pokémon far above us. One of them looks much bigger than the others.”

Alyssa looked upwards and held her hand out just above her eyes. She then face-palmed and angrily admitted, “I was not actively scanning high enough! I think those three up there must have seen me with our group and decided to fly up as high as they could to track us… I think it looks like they are descending towards the hilltop now. It will still take them a bit to reach it.”

Annika gently put a hand on Alyssa’s hand and said, “Don’t beat yourself up over it too much, Aly. Still, that flying patrol must have reported that a large group was coming to the nine atop the hill. Whoever these interlopers are, they seem to be well-organized.”

Ty added, “We have lost the element of surprise now. However, we also know that there are Pokémon atop the hill who are likely hostile to us. We still need to complete our mission here. That means we have to ascend the hill and try to discern what happened and who these intruders are.”

Marcy pointed out, “There is not much point in trying to be stealthy now, since those three flyers can likely keep tabs on us without the forests’ canopy to cover us.”

Annika told Eliza, “We better advance now. We will see if we can talk to the new occupants of the hilltop. However, everyone should be ready to fight at any time. We don’t know if these mystery interlopers will try to engage us on the way up the hill, or if they will wait until we reach the top.”

Eliza nodded and ordered her league members, “We are advancing. Be on your guard everyone. Even with Alyssa’s senses, we are dealing with potential enemies we know nothing about.”

Annika nodded, now certainly curious about what had really happened at the Hilltop Shrine. She intended to learn who the mystery intruders really were and what their goal had been in attacking the shrine.

Eliza led the team of eleven Pokémon up the hillside. Alyssa stayed close to the front with Annika right beside her. Alyssa would give occasional reports about the auras on the hilltop. It seemed to her like they were getting into a formation of some kind. The three airborne Pokémon were slowly, but surely, closing in on the hilltop. Annika was slightly worried about the fact that her group would be outnumbered in the event that combat broke out. However, they would only be outnumbered by one.

Annika and her comrades soon managed to reach the top of the hill. When they got there, they saw a stone building with a sloped roof the size of a large house that had been draped in deep purple and pinkish-red banners. The building looked to have sustained some damage here and there. It’s door had clearly been ripped off of its hinges and was lying, singed, on the ground next to the cobblestone path that led to the building from the main road. There was a large square pedestal in front and just to the side of the building that had rubble scattered around it. Annika quickly surmised that the rubble had once been whole and sat atop the pedestal. Based on the patterns on the smashed rocks, it had probably been a statue of Arceus.

In terms of living creatures in the area. A formation of nine Pokémon, who were wearing cloth scarves, sashes and caps in the same colors as the banners that had been draped over the shrine had been waiting for Annika and her allies. To Annika’s far left was a Darmanitan and two Darumaka. All three of them were of the more common fire breed. Next to them to the right were two Armored Meowth flanking a Perrserker. Annika had learned of the warrior breeds of humanoid feline from Alyssa early in their relationship. A pair of Tauros stood flanking a green simian Pokémon with sticks in his hair at the top of his head.

Annika and Eliza’s teams spread out. They stared down the nine Pokémon, who did the same to them. Before anyone on Annika’s side said anything to the other side, the green simian, who Eliza quietly identified as a “Thwackey” stepped forward. In an official sounding voice, the Thwackey declared, “I am Lieutenant Augustine of the Crusader Force. The eight Pokémon you see here are my soldiers. You are…”

Eliza stepped forward before anyone could try to stop her and replied, “My name is Eliza. I am the Society Head of the Shawlia Adventurers’ League. I do not pretend to know what the ‘Crusader Force’ is. However, it looks to me like you and your subordinates have occupied this Shrine to Arceus and desecrated it in some fashion. I think I speak for all of when I say that we demand an explanation.”

Augustine snorted a bit and then responded, “Very well, you shall have one. The entity known as Arceus is unworthy of worship and so are all of their children, the Legendary Pokémon. We pay homage to the only deity who is truly worthy of religious devotion and we our guided by our Prophet in this proper veneration….”

Lawrence interjected, “Hold your Ponyta, are you telling us that there is a god stronger than Arceus out there? Your proof is…”

Augustine looked annoyed as his soldiers tensed themselves. He then continued, “I would advise you to take the following offer. Our Captain has a pre-written message in his possession. He will give it you once he arrives momentarily, if you are willing accept it. We will allow you to leave this place and return to the port of Shawlia as long as you swear to deliver the message to the local leadership. Only the holder of the highest authority in Shawlia is to be the recipient of the scroll.”

Riccardo pointed out, “We were sent here to investigate the shrine and find out what had become of it. It seems as though your unit attacked it because of some theological objection to the worship of Arceus. …What did you do to the attendants who worked here?”

Augustine sighed and responded, “I will leave it to Captain Octavian to explain that.” He then saluted upwards and said, “Sir!”

As the other eight Crusader Force Pokémon bowed or saluted, an armored bird Pokémon big enough for a human to ride on comfortably landed next to one of the Tauros. As two smaller bird Pokémon landed next to him, Alyssa said, “Wow, a Corviknight and two Corvisquire. These must have been the ones keeping tabs on us from the sky.”

The Corviknight, who Annika knew had to be Captain Octavian, cleared his throat and said, “The attendants of the shrine resisted my soldiers when we tried to take the structure and prepare it to be consecrated to our god. The worship of Arceus must not be tolerated any longer. That is the Prophet’s greatest order. As for what was done with them, they sadly perished for their meaningless cause….”

Sylvester asked, “You are telling us openly that you killed the attendants of this shrine and that you expect us to deliver your message for you? …I am not sure what culture you come from, but that is pretty messed up!”

As Annika was trying to process all that she had just heard, one thought went through her head repeatedly, “There are others out there opposing the worship of Arceus.” However, her mind finally settled on another thought, “And yet, they are just another band of religious fanatics!”

Before Annika could make a statement, Nia acted for her. The Anetisian Princess seemed unable to take the standoff anymore. She screamed the word “Murderers!” She then unleashed her icy eye rays at Octavian. The Crusader Captain leapt into the air. However, one of his two Corvisquire comrades was not so lucky and took the full blast meant for his commanding officer.

As the Corvisquire reeled, Annika shouted, “Not that this was going to end any other way. Whoever you ‘crusaders’ are, you are just another band of brainwashed fools to me!” Annika had been freezing the air in between her claws the whole time she had been speaking. She then shot her pulse of frozen air into Augustine, who fell to one knee from the force of Annika’s attack.

Eliza shouted, “Engage them and liberate the shrine! We will show them what are made of!”

Alyssa and Marcy both Mega-Evolved and then Alyssa rushed in to engage the Meowth and Perrserker. Marcy ran forward towards a Tauros while charging up crackling energy over her whole body.

Lawrence and Riccardo finished the wounded Corvisquire with their lightning blast attacks as the other avian took off to join her Captain in the sky.

Eliza was rammed by a Tauros and took a gore from one of his horns. However, she responded by angrily punching him square in the nose. The attack staggered him quite a bit and Allowed Lilac to rapidly strike at his underbelly.

Ty knocked out that Tauros with a strike to the side of the neck from his thick skull plate. He then chuckled happily as his entire body began to glow. Ty evolved from Cranidos to Rampardos as the battle raged around him.

Sylvester ran towards the three rapidly-advancing fire ape Pokémon. He angrily unleashed a mighty pulse of water that badly injured all three enemies.

Jenny flew in low and began to swoop down and punch at the armored Meowth while Alyssa dueled with Perrserker, blocking his claws with her bone staff expertly.

From the sky, Octavian called out, “You are the real fools! I have reinforcements on their way at the other side of the hill! We just have to hold you off for long enough until they arrive!”

As the injured Augustine summoned up some leafy daggers and sniped Sylvester with them, Alyssa delivered a bone staff strike to the Perrserker’s stomach and called out, “I am starting to sense more hostile auras at the edge of my range!”

Annika knocked Augustine unconscious with a second blast of frozen air. She then called out, “Take out as many enemies as you can and then full retreat! We should still have time to escape after dealing with these guys if we hurry!”

Riccardo was struck by a dive-bombing attack from the enemy Corvisquire. He then countered by nailing her in the stomach with a hurled sphere of electricity.

Octavian surveyed the battlefield and then decided to dive-bomb Eliza. He struck her with his beak at full force. However she withstood the attack and punched him right in the beak as a counter.

Ty and Lilac began to fight the second Tauros as Lawrence jumped up into the air and struck the Corvisquire who had wounded Riccardo head on with a mighty point-blank blast of electricity. As she fainted, Nia rushed towards Octavian and conjured a dagger of ice that sliced into him, getting through his armored feathers.

Sylvester dodged two pulses of fire from the Darumaka and then withstood a flaming bite from the Darmanitan. He then jumped backward and finished off the two Darumaka with a second wide blast of water, which also injured the Darmanitan heavily.

Alyssa planted her bone staff right into the Perrserker’s gut as Jenny knocked out one of the armored Meowth with a rapid punch to the head.

Marcy then fired off her razors of energy. They struck every remaining conscious Crusader in the area. The Darmanitan fainted as every other foe was sliced into, but still stood.

Annika took a strike from one of Octavian’s armored wings and then saw Lilac getting nearly knocked out by the Tauros. Thankfully, the remaining Meowth and the Perrserker were not having much luck against Alyssa and Jenny. Now, the adventurers outnumbered their foes almost three to one. Still, the other enemies would soon be on site. They needed to win this battle quickly.

Annika blasted Octavian with another icy pulse as Alyssa finally finished the Perrserker with her bone staff. Jenny then finished off the final Meowth with some help from Riccardo and Lawrence.

Nia threw herself at the Tauros and stuck him with dark energy covering her body. Eliza, Lilac and the badly injured Sylvester all teamed up to finish off that enemy. Now, Octavian was left alone and injured from the fight.

The hostile Corviknight sighed and told the various adventurers, “You are only delaying the inevitable. I will taking my leave of you now.”

Octavian launched himself back into the sky at full speed. He began to fly away from the hill, presumably towards his reinforcements.

Alyssa called out, “I sense at least fifteen more hostiles coming our way. We need to fall back. We sadly will not be able to reclaim this shrine today.”

As Alyssa and Marcy’s mega-evolutions wore off, Eliza said, “I agree. We need to make it back to Shawlia post haste and inform the local government about what we have found. It is certainly cause for alarm.”

The eleven adventurers, tired as they were, high-tailed in down the hill. Nia seemed to want to fight the enemy reinforcements using the shrine as cover and the advantage of height over the crusaders’ land-based foes. Still, she accepted her orders and retreated with the others. Alyssa did her best to provide some rapid healing to her most-injured allies as they retreated. They would need to be as healed up as possible if the crusaders caught up with them.

Annika and her allies managed to leave the hills far behind them and Alyssa was able to confirm that the hostile reinforcements were staying atop the hill. They were probably reoccupying the shrine with Octavian. They were also likely tending to their wounded and counting their dead. Soon after that, the hilltop was out of Alyssa’s range.

As the tired procession trekked through the falling night, Annika could only think two things. The first was that she and her comrades would have to stay in Shawlia for the time being. The second was that she wanted to get to the bottom of this “Crusader Force.” Who was their mysterious Prophet and who was the true object of their worship. Most importantly, why did they despise the worship or Arceus and the Legendary Pokémon and desire to put an end to it. What scared Annika the most about the new situation was that their new enemies seemed to hold views that were in some ways very different to, but in some ways very similar to, her own.


	13. A Concerning Situation

Annika, the rest of the CAS Away Team and the five members of the SAL trudged their way back towards Shawlia through the night that soon fell. They considered setting up a camp along the road and trying to get some rest. However, they were afraid that their new enemies who had called themselves the “Crusader Force” would possibly catch them off guard if they stopped for too long. Alyssa was the one member of the group who was doing her absolute best to stay awake and alert. Her Aura Sense would be absolutely critical in determining if any enemies, whether wild or civilized, were coming to engage the adventurers.

Annika spent most of the hours-long retreat to Shawlia worrying about what had just happened. It was now most likely that the enigmatic crusaders were the ones responsible for the loss of contact between Shawlia, and the rest of the settlements on the Adalsian Continent’s northern coast, and the settlements in the vicinity of Mount Galtia. Still, a number of new questions were swirling in Annika’s mind. She was sure that at least most of her comrades had some similar questions. She wanted to know who the Prophet of the crusaders was and what deity they actually venerated.

However, for now, the most important goal that the expedition team had was to reach the southern gate of Shawlia safely. From there, they would have to get some sleep. After that, Eliza was going to have to give her report to the three-member Shawlia City Council. Annika was strongly considering volunteering to go before the council with Eliza. Maybe they would be interested in hearing from the leader of the famous Creekside Adventurers’ Society regarding the pressing new situation?

For around the first hour of the journey back, Nia had expressed her indignation at having to retreat from the murderous enemies who now still occupied the Hilltop Shrine. Annika remembered that the CAS had pretty much never backed down from a fight since Nia joined them. In fact, she had trouble recalling a time where they had felt the need to flee combat, even against swarms of wild Pokémon. However, she had felt like she gave the correct order. It certainly seemed like their new enemies could call for even more backup if prompted to do so. The hilltop less than a day from Shawlia was now occupied territory of a hostile power. That would be the primary message their report would have to send to the city council.

Even after Nia shut up about hating to have to fall back, Sylvester was talking about what the message the Crusaders had tried to convince the adventurers to deliver to Shawlia could have been. Was it a statement of intent, an attempt to negotiate something, a religious manifesto, a list of demands? There were quite a few possibilities. It was certainly possible that they would never know the true content of the message now.

Some members of Annika’s team had been surprised at how little Annika had reprimanded Nia for starting the fight in an outburst of rage. Annika had justified not scolding the princess adventuress because she had considered it unlikely that the adventurers would have ended up being intimidated by the current occupants of the Hilltop Shrine. She would have been surprised if most of her allies had ended up acquiescing to the crusaders desire for them to deliver their message scroll to Shawlia’s governing council. She was not sure about what the SAL would have done without backup. However, she knew that her society members were not the types to give in to a potential enemy’s demand very easily.

It was likely well past midnight when the eleven adventurers finally came into visual range of Shawlia City’s southern gate. Currently, the gate was closed. However, a Stonjourner Watch Officer was on patrol plodding back and forth in front of the gate. There was a brazier of fire lit on either side of the gate, illuminating him and his immediate surroundings.

When the Stonjourner officer saw the exhausted adventurers, he thankfully did not say anything disdainful about Eliza. However, it was clear that he knew that they were safe to let into the city as he called out, “Open the gate!”

The gate slowly ground open, revealing a trio of tentacled Pokémon Riccardo identified as two Clobbopus and a Grapploct monning the winches. Eliza told the Stonjourner, “We have returned from the Hilltop Shrine. I have an important report for the city council. However, I will need to rest first, along with the others here. Please have someone alert the council so that they are aware and ready to hear the report sometime tomorrow. It will certainly be worth their time. I can promise you that.”

The Stonjourner nodded, seeing how exhausted Eliza and the others were. He allowed them to pass and gave some orders to the three gate crew Pokémon to close the gate immediately after all eleven expedition members were through it and back inside the city.

It was quickly agreed that Annika and company needed to rest immediately. Despite having put down money for a couple of extra nights at the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse, they simply followed Eliza and Riccardo into the SAL Headquarters and crashed to sleep wherever they could. Lilac, Jenny and Ty all went to their own lodgings. Right before falling asleep next to Alyssa, Annika had told Eliza that if it were at all possible, she would go with her to give her report the next day. Eliza nodded back at Annika and then trudged upstairs to get some sleep.

Despite all that there was to worry about, Annika and company slept pretty well that night due to sheer exhaustion from the march to the Hilltop Shrine and then their retreat back through the evening and the night.

When Annika finally woke up, she saw Alyssa quietly talking with Eliza. Marcy and Lawrence were just waking up nearby. Sylvester was still fast asleep and Nia was most likely with Riccardo. Annika walked over to Alyssa and gently took her hand.

Eliza politely informed Annika, “It seems to be roughly noon already. We certainly needed the sleep though.”

Alyssa nodded, still a bit drowsy. She told Annika, “Eliza is hoping to depart for the Shawlia City Hall soon. We were waiting for you to wake up, since you expressed a desire to go with her when she went to give her report.”

Annika rubbed one of her eyes and then replied, “I think that as the Society Head of the CAS, I should be able to convince the city council to hear my testimony along with Eliza’s. The enemies we encountered atop the hill to the south were better organized then pretty much any foes the CAS has done battle with before.”

Alyssa admitted, “The closest thing we have dealt with compared to those soldiers was the AML. However, they lacked the same degree of organization and actual uniforms. Also, I can see those crusaders having amassed a much larger force to the south than the advance squad we fought and their incoming reinforcements.”

Eliza nodded solemnly and replied, “What this all adds up to for now is that Shawlia proper is likely in danger from those foreign fanatics. Once again, I do appreciate all of the help that the CAS has given us. Now that we know who was waiting atop the hill, I don’t think my team could have survived that battle without your team by our side.”

As Sylvester slowly began to stir and Nia came downstairs with Riccardo, Annika suggested, “Eliza, we should be heading out now. Aly, can you take everyone else on our team back to the hotel once they are all ready?”

As Alyssa saluted her wife, Eliza turned to Riccardo and told him, “You need to stay here and wait for our other three members to show up. When they do, tell them that I have gone off with Annika to meet with the city council.”

Riccardo saluted Eliza and told her, “Good luck convincing the city council that they need to take action against the Crusader Force. Let’s hope that since they trusted us with the contract, they will trust you when you tell them what we discovered.”

Marcy and Lawrence walked over and Lawrence said, “We will also need to request our pay from yesterday’s mission. However, warning the local government about the threat only about a day’s march from the city is more important for now.”

Marcy added, “I have a feeling that if this situation escalates, the local government will have more need of our services. Still, I know that most of us were hoping to return home soon.”

As Sylvester roused himself and got up, he shook his head a bit. Having heard what Marcy had just said, pointed out, “We really cannot just leave the Shawlians now. They could need our help more than ever! It will not be just the SAL in need of aid this time.”

Eliza finished, “Annika, while Alyssa leads your team back to your hotel, we should be on our way. Riccardo, remember my orders for when the other three show up.”

Annika and Eliza headed out of the SAL Headquarters and from there, they made a beeline right for the center of the city. When the two of them reached the Shawlia City Hall, they spoke with Jolene, the secretary for the city council. Eliza identified Jolene to Annika as a Hattrem. Annika admitted that there were quite a few Pokémon living on the Adalsian Continent that she had never met before in either her human or Pokémon lives.

Jolene asked Annika and Eliza to sit and wait in the lobby of the city hall for around a half-hour. During that time, the two females agreed on a plan. Since Eliza’s league had been the ones to accept the contract, she would give her report first. Annika was there to provide evidential support for Eliza’s account of what had happened. She would also possibly give some testimony about the situation based on her own experience as a veteran adventurer.

When Jolene announced that the city council was ready to hear Eliza and Annika’s report, the two of them walked from the lobby down a hallway and past a door guarded by two Yamper Watch Officers.

When Annika followed Eliza into the tall, circular, wood-paneled City Council Chamber, she noticed three small podiums. Each of them had one Pokémon behind it. Each podium had a name plaque in front of it. There was a male Seismitoad named Scipio, a female Dragonair named Alessandra and a male Drednaw named Zachary. Annika had seen enough Drednaw around Shawlia to recognize that species by this point. Also in the room, standing at attention, was Zoltar, the Boltund Watch Captain of Shawlia City.

As Annika and Eliza took up positions at the center of the chamber, Zoltar gave Eliza a quick glare. Eliza did not return the nasty look.

Scipio took out a gavel and banged it twice against his podium. Then, he announced, “This meeting of the Shawlia City Council is called to order. We are here to hear the report of the Shawlia Adventurers’ League regarding the status of the Hilltop Shrine. We are also to allocate the pay for the league at the end of this meeting. Before the report is given, would Miss Eliza’s guest please introduce herself to the council.”

Annika nodded, stepped forward and said, “My name is Annika. I am the Society Head of the Creekside Adventurers’’ Society. I was in town with my away team for the purpose of advising the SAL and helping them to grow as an organization akin to my own. My team was asked to accompany Eliza’s league on their mission to the south. We are now glad that we did for the sake of both the SAL and Shawlia as a whole. However, I will allow League Head Eliza to give the full report herself.”

Zoltar shook his head and seemed even more annoyed with Eliza than before. However, the three council members seemed to roughly know who Annika and the CAS were. Alessandra asked Eliza, “It seems as though you brought quite an esteemed guest with you today. Now, would you please give us your report?”

Eliza nodded seriously and began, “Esteemed council members, I sadly cannot be the bringer of good news today. My league and our CAS allies’ investigation of the Hilltop Shrine discovered that the attendants had been attacked and done away with by an organized military unit of Pokémon. When we encountered them, the foreign soldiers identified themselves as members of the ‘Crusader Force.’ They spoke of a leader they called their ‘Prophet’ who has ordered the end of all worship of Arceus and all of their Legendary children on behalf of some unknown other deity. These foreigners had draped the shrine in banners with the same purple and pinkish-red colors as their sashes, scarves and caps. They had also destroyed the statue of Arceus in the front of the shrine.”

As Eliza took a deep breath, Zachary stammered, “Miss Eliza, you mean to tell us that there are those out there who profane the name of Arceus in such a violent and dramatic way! If this is truly the case, we will need to find out who and what has caused them to embrace this evil philosophy!”

Annika managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes as Eliza continued, “It seemed as though these foreign soldiers intended to dedicate the shrine to their own god. They also said that their god was the only one worthy of worship. After we confronted them, their Lieutenant and Captain tried to get us to deliver a message to you with unknown contents. However, ultimately, upon learning the sad fate of the shrine’s attendants, a fight between us and the foreigners broke out. We managed to defeat all of them but their Corviknight Captain, who went by the name Octavian. He retreated to go and regroup with incoming enemy reinforcements. We decided then and there that we needed to escape alive in order to return to Shawlia and inform you of the danger that we had uncovered.”

Annika added, “My wife, Alyssa, is a Lucario. Thanks to her senses, we were able to anticipate the arrival of an even larger number of enemies at the hilltop. That is when we decided to fall back through the night to Shawlia.”

Scipio admitted, “I would like to have learned what the message the crusaders intended to send us was. Still, I doubt that it would have been anything that we would want to hear.”

Zachary angrily declared, “Who do these foreigners think they are! From what we have heard just now, I would bet that they are the ones behind our losing contact with the area surrounding Mount Galtia. We need to take action and do so fast if we are to defeat these infidels!”

Alessandra pointed out, “There is still quite a lot that we do not know about these hostile Pokémon. Hopefully, they have not yet been able to capture a major city yet. If we have to fight the crusaders, we may want to stay in Shawlia and use our defensive advantage to wear them down until we can counterattack successfully.”

Zoltar dutifully said, “I will carry out any orders that this council gives me. That is all I have to say on this matter for now.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door to the council chamber. Scipio said, “Yes, come in.”

One of the Yamper guards came inside accompanied by a watch officer who appeared to be a Cramorant, based on Annika’s limited knowledge. The Yamper officer said, “Esteemed council members and Watch Captain, this officer says that he spotted a small procession of six Pokémon wearing dark purple and pinkish-red clothes making their way through the Daedic Forests. The apparent leader of the group was carrying a scroll of some kind.”

Eliza sighed, “It seems as though they intend to deliver their message one way or another.”

Alessandra replied, “We will hear their message. We will go to the southern gate and meet these emissaries. Let us find out what they want from us and why they are hostile to the faithful of Arceus and their children.”

Annika volunteered, “Eliza and I will go with you. I want to know what is really going on as much as you do.”

As Eliza nodded her head in agreement, the council Pokémon descended from their podiums left the room along with Annika, Eliza, Zoltar and the other watch officers. They were going to learn more about their mysterious new adversaries soon after all.


	14. An Unwanted Message

Annika and Eliza were following the three members of the Shawlia City Council, along with Watch Captain Zoltar and a couple of his officers. They left the Shawlia City Hall and then began to walk south through the city. Annika wished that she knew if she had time to retrieve her wife, Alyssa, and the rest of her away team. Still, the unit of crusader Pokémon that had been sighted by the Cramorant Watch Officer only had six members. Alyssa’s Aura Sense would certainly come in handy, just in case there was something else at play that had not been obvious to the watch air scout.

Once Annika and Eliza, along with the others, were nearing the southern gate of the city, they noticed that a small unit of watch officers had gathered near the gate. They seemed to be anticipating something and looked ready to take on a defensive formation as soon as the need arose.

Watch Captain Zoltar ran ahead of the three council members, Eliza and Annika along with the officers who had been accompanying them. He barked out, “Report, officers! What is the situation here?”

A male Grapploct, who Annika was unsure if she had seen the last night or not, saluted Zoltar with a tentacle and responded, “Captain Zoltar Sir, we have been alerted to the presence of six Pokémon heading this way down the main road. They are wearing unfamiliar uniforms and the female at the head is carrying a scroll of some kind according to our air scouts.”

Zoltar nodded and told his officers, “According to the report that was just given to the city council, these travelers are not friendly. However, based on the evidence we have, they are here to deliver a message to the city council. We will await the council’s orders now.”

A watch Yamper told Zoltar and the others, “We believe that the travelers should be here in less than an hour now. Should we close the southern gate?”

Zoltar looked to the three city council members for guidance. Zachary suggested, “Why don’t we just eliminate these infidels? They will be on our turf this time. Taking them down will likely weaken the hostile force based at the Hilltop Shrine, even if only to a small extent.”

Scipio shook his head a bit and suggested, “We need to at least hear them out. These foreigners clearly want to deliver their message to us. I want to hear what it is before we take any further action regarding their presence in the vicinity.”

Alessandra said, “I would strongly prefer to avoid an open conflict if we can do so. If there is any chance that we can negotiate with these strange Pokémon, then we should try to embrace it. I think we should offer to hear their message and then, if further negotiation seems impossible, send them on their way.”

Scipio and Alessandra seemed to have outvoted Zachary on this issue. As the Drednaw council member sulked, Zoltar gave the order to his officers, “Keep the gate open and take up defensive positions. Show our strength, but do not appear openly hostile. We will ask them to stop before they get too close to the gate. Then, we will allow the council to speak with them.”

Scipio looked over at Annika and Eliza and suggested, “In case someone needs to go beyond the city walls and negotiate with these foreign agents, would the two of you be willing to come with us as security, along with Captain Zoltar? Your experience should come in handy if we end up fighting these ‘crusaders.’”

As Annika nodded yes, Eliza replied, “Yes sir. We would be happy to come with you if the need arises. Five or six of us will put us on a more even par with the delegation coming down the road.”

Zachary grumbled, “I still think we should just deal with them once they are in range. If it is all the same to you, I will stay behind to command the watch officers here in case you need backup.”

Scipio and Alessandra both nodded and agreed to the idea put forward by Zachary. Now, it was simply time to wait until the delegation arrived.

Thankfully, it was not that long until six Pokémon appeared walking at an average pace. The leader of the group was wearing a deep purple scarf and carrying a large scroll with a pinkish-red bow keeping it from unfurling. Eliza identified her as an Inteleon. The Inteleon was followed by two Drizzile, two Cufant and a Coalossal bringing up the rear. Annika was impressed by the variety of the Pokémon native to the Adalsian continent that she had not encountered in her earlier adventures.

The Inteleon was confidently advancing forward followed by her five compatriots. The delegation did not make any hostile moves. However, they clearly saw the assembled Pokémon blocking the way into Shawlia.

Scipio told Zoltar, “Please inform the delegation that we would prefer them not to advance further.” When the visitors were around one-hundred feet from the southern gate.

Zoltar nodded his ascent and then loudly barked out, “Please do not come any closer! You have entered the sovereign territory of the City State of Shawlia. Please state your business immediately.”

The Inteleon mockingly called back, “Is that how you treat all of your visitors? …Regardless, I am the Shadower Azura. I have been assigned to deliver a message to the current leadership of Shawlia.”

Scipio and Alessandra whispered somethings to Zoltar who then barked out, “We have the city council here. Two of its members are willing to come forward to meet with you, along with myself and two others for security purposes. Is that acceptable to you?”

Azura nodded and replied, “Yes. You may come forward with the two council members and meet with us. We have no orders to engage anyone in combat today.”

As the five agreed upon Pokémon left Shawlia to go and meet with Azura and her small team, Annika wondered what Azura had meant by “Shadower.” It sounded like it was her title. Annika wondered what sort of duties someone with the title of Shadower would perform.

Scipio and Alessandra led their three escorts over to Azura’s team. The Inteleon stepped forward, still holding her scroll. She looked the five Pokémon over, her gaze lingered on Annika for a moment. However, she soon pointed to Scipio and Alessandra and asked, “I assume that you two are the members of the city council who have agreed to speak with me?”

The two council members nodded and then Alessandra asked, “Now, a question from us. Are you and your comrades members of the so-called Crusader Force that has occupied the Hilltop Shrine to Arceus?”

Azura rolled her eyes and replied, “The three soldiers behind me and my Lieutenants are indeed. As for the three of us, we are part of the Recon Division, not the Crusader Force per se.”

Scipio asked, “In that case, who do you serve? Who sent you to deliver a message to us?”

Azura replied, “I serve the Prophet directly. I answer to no other personage. My division is adjacent to the Crusader Force as it were. Now, are you ready to hear the Prophet’s message for you and your city?”

Alessandra and Scipio both nodded yes and Azura opened the scroll. She began, “Leaders of Shawlia. I have become aware that your settlement is both a respected trading port and a center of the worship of Arceus. The latter is unacceptable and shall not be allowed to go on any longer than it has to. What you can be forgiven for not knowing is that out world, nay our universe, is one of thousands, if not millions, of separate dimensions. Arceus is NOT the originator of all existence. They are therefore NOT worthy of worship, despite their power and influence. I have created a new religion on one simple principle, that only the prime mover of the multiverse, the Overdiety as we call them, is worthy of worship. Our Church of the Overdiety is committed to ending the worship of all Legendary Pokémon, including and especially Arceus. My demand is simple, I give you one chance to surrender your city formally to my representatives. If you resist our crusaders, then things will not go well for you. We will have Shawlia in our control soon enough and we would prefer to accomplish this task with minimal loss of life and property. Our Church’s forces will have already captured the Hilltop Shrine to the unworthy god Arceus by the time that you receive this message. Surrender and prepare yourselves to repent for your worship of Arceus, or suffer the wrath of the true faith! …Sincerely, the Prophet of the Church of the Overdiety.”

As Azura had been reading the scroll aloud, Annika had been thinking and Eliza had been angrily tensing up, along with Zoltar. For one, Annika could not help but find it amusing that there were now intolerant religious fanatics who hated Arceus. Of course, the followers of the Church of the Overdiety were certainly intolerant religious fanatics. Therefore, Annika was not exactly predisposed to sympathize with their cause. They seemed determined to wipe out all other faiths simply because they were dogmatically convinced of their own righteousness. Of course, Annika still wondered why the Prophet, the apparent leader of the Church of the Overdiety, was not using their real name. She was not even sure if the Prophet was a male or a female. They had to be a mortal Pokémon, but they were likely a very charismatic and powerful mortal. Why would any of the Legendary creations of Arceus rebel against them in such a dramatic and violent way?

All eyes were on Scipio and Alessandra after Azura rolled her scroll back up. Alessandra looked at the ground and then back up at Azura. She stammered, “You really expect us to abandon our whole religious way of life in favor of some god and philosophy we have just been introduced to? Is there any way that you and your leader can be convinced to leave this region and leave our city in peace?”

Azura shook her head no and replied, “My apologies, but we have worked long and hard to ensure that your city would not know of us directly until the right time came. Now, that time has come. Shawlia WILL be freed from the worship of the unworthy Arceus. It is up to you how you accept that change.”

Scipio suddenly pointed to Azura and her soldiers and told them, “Please leave… now! You are profaning the name of Arceus and promising violence on a grand scale if we do not join you in that sacrilege! We want nothing to do with your faith and its insane teachings. The Hilltop Shrine will be operated by those who worship Arceus again! Now, be gone, you blasphemer!”

Azura merely chuckled and replied, sounding surprisingly calm, “You are the blasphemers who engage in sacrilege to us. The worship of Arceus is profanity against the truth of the Overdiety. However, I will honor your request that my delegation take its leave of you. I will inform the Prophet of your blatant refusal to surrender Shawlia to us. You will have to pay for your arrogance in the face of our strength.”

With that, Azura spun on her heel and she and her soldiers began the trek back towards the Hilltop Shrine.

Scipio said, once Azura’s delegation was hopefully out of earshot, “We could attack them. However, that would only risk some of us while likely sending the same message to their leader. Even taking hostages would be unlikely to stop those fanatics from attacking us. Zachary seems to have been right, we need to make a preemptive strike on this new enemy.”

Annika knew that her society’s away team had no ethical choice but to stay in Shawlia now. Their combat expertise could be quite helpful to the defense of the city against the crusaders.

Eliza, as the five Pokémon were making their way back towards the southern gate, said, “I just want everyone here to know that, regardless of how much you trust me, the SAL will be all in to defend Shawlia and recapture the Hilltop Shrine. We will await our orders and be ready to move out as soon as you need our help.”

Annika nodded and added, “My away team will also be at your disposal. I have never been religious personally. However, I cannot leave in good conscious while your city is threatened by these zealots. I might not worship Arceus, but I certainly do not believe in any sort of forced conversion.”

Zoltar admitted, “We will need every seasoned fighter we can muster if their force is of any significant size. Once the full council rejoins and decides on a plan of action, I will be ready to carry out whatever orders you give me. We may have to bolster the ranks of the watch considerably with a citizen’s militia.”

Scipio and Alessandra both nodded as the group made its way back to the southern gate. Once there, the three members of the Shawlia City Council agreed to return to their chamber with Zoltar. No later than tomorrow, a public announcement would be made by the council regarding what to do about the threat posed by the Church of the Overdiety. Also, Annika and Eliza were both informed that pay would be processed for their last mission and would be given to both of their teams. The Shawlian government would also pay for the CAS members’ stay in their hotel as long as they were serving as elite auxiliaries for the city watch. 

Annika and Eliza split up to return to their teams and brief them on what they had learned about the enemies they were certainly going to be facing off against again soon. As Annika made her way back to the Oceanic Hotel and Bathhouse, she knew that she would have to tell her team that they were going to end up in a situation they had never been in before. That would be a small-scale war.


	15. Readying the Preemptive Strike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers, at this stage, I just wanted to let you all know that I have managed to make significant headway on this story’s sequel. This new story will be the finale of what I have decided will be the CAS trilogy. I cannot completely guarantee that the trilogy capper will be finished and posted, but I have already finished more than half of it by the time of this announcement. My hope is to start posting the trilogy’s finale very soon after this story is fully posted. I do plan on providing updates in the future when I have new ones worth sharing. As for this story, it is almost half-way posted and will continue posting at the regular twice-weekly rate for the time being. Thank you all for reading this story this far as well.

Annika had returned to the hotel where she and her team were staying. Soon after returning, she had located all five of her team members with Alyssa’s help and gathered them in her room.

Now, Annika looked over at Alyssa, Sylvester, Nia, Marcy and Lawrence. She just finished explaining the events of the meeting with the Shadower Azura to the five of them. Annika had made it clear that she had volunteered the CAS Away Team’s services to aid in the defense of Shawlia against the forces of the Church of the Overdiety. Eliza had done the same and offered the services of the Shawlia Adventurers’ League in fighting back against those who now threatened Shawlia.

After Annika had finished her explanation, Alyssa said, “I can see one major problem for us in this situation. These fanatics from the south, let’s call them the CTO for the sake of ease, could have spent months, if not longer, conquering settlements and groups of wild Pokémon. We just do not know how big their army is and how unified it is. They seem to have been planning to capture Shawlia for quite some time, likely both because of the city’s access to the ocean and the local populace’s penchant for worship of Arceus.”

Sylvester pointed out, “We also do not know who their leader is, other than the fact that they are referred to as the ‘Prophet.’”

Nia added, “Regardless of the enemy’s numbers, I believe that Lady Annika did the right thing by volunteering us to help protect Shawlia against these infidel foreigners. Someone has to stop these fanatics, they might as well be stopped here.”

Marcy said, “Annika, I will follow whatever orders you give, as always. We will uncover the truth behind the CTO and put an end to them… The CAS is sort of the premier organization when it comes to defeating evil cults after all…”

As Lawrence exclaimed, “We have never been defeated before! With all of Shawlia behind us, we will weather the storm of battle.” Nia glared briefly at Marcy, as she often did.

Annika smiled at her wife and friends, she then admitted, “I wish that there was a way for us to bring our other six members down her, along with an army of our own. However, we will need to make do with who we have here for now. From what I have been told, it is likely that the Shawlia City Council will vote on the best course of action to take from here. They will hopefully reach out to other settlements in the region to warn them of the threat. I also suspect that they will attempt to rally the citizenry into a militia in order to bolster the ranks of the city watch. We will need to be ready to move out at a moment’s notice. The local government is going to be paying our hotel bill for the time being. But, we need to be ready to uphold our end of the bargain.”

All of Annika’s comrades nodded and then the ones who could saluted her. The CAS members spent the rest of the day preparing their packs to move out whenever they were called upon. Then, they made sure to get to sleep early that night. They wanted to be ready to see what the city council had decided the next day.

The next morning, Annika and her team ate a quick breakfast and then made their way over to the Headquarters of the Shawlia Adventurers’ League. Once they arrived and were let in by Lilac, they saw the other four members of the league waiting for them.

Eliza informed Annika’s team, “The City Council has sent out messengers and criers to try and inform as many citizens of Shawlia as they can to gather in the central plaza of the city today one hour after noon. We believe that that is when and where they intend to announce the situation regarding the CTO to the public and explain what their plan of action is going to be. We all need to be in the crowd at that meeting.”

Alyssa chuckled and mentioned, “It sounds like you all came up with the same acronym for our new enemies that we did.” 

Annika added, “We will certainly go along with the five of you to the public meeting. We need to know what the council has decided to do if we are to determine what our role will be in the days to come. We can only hope that a sound strategy has been decided upon for how to proceed before the CTO can march on Shawlia. I am sure that they will try to do so given enough time.”

As Riccardo, Lilac and Jenny looked a bit worried, Nia said, “I wish that we could fetch reinforcements from the Grand Island. However, I cannot see a way for us to do that within a reasonable amount of time.”

Sylvester admitted, “I am sure that dozens of Pokémon from the Grand Island, not just Creekside, would follow us into battle. However, Nia is right. We need to stay here for now in order to help the Shawlians defend their home from the CTO.”

Eliza nodded and said, “My league members have been informing their families and friends that something big is coming. We have also been gathering our gear. …Also, the pay has come in for our investigation of the Hilltop Shrine. You can pick yours up now, since it was delivered here like it was after we defeated the Daedic Bandits.”

Annika and company picked up their pouches of money. Then, they discussed several possible strategies for winning the upcoming conflict with the members of the SAL for the next couple of hours.

Around a half-hour before noon, Eliza led her team and Annika’s out for a quick lunch at a small café close to the SAL HQ. During lunch, everyone was relatively quiet. They were all obviously concerned about the coming battle. Annika was itching to learn what plan the city council had come up with to properly engage the CTO’s forces.

After their lunch, Eliza and Annika led their teams to the central plaza of Shawlia. Well over one-hundred Pokémon were already present in the crowd by the time that the eleven adventurers arrived. Annika noticed a second-story balcony on the front of city hall that seemed to be where the crowd’s attention was focused. She was sure that the city council would likely address the assembled crowd from that balcony.

As the eleven adventurers found the best spots in the, rapidly growing, crowd that they could, Annika wondered how things were going in Creekside. Were Drake, Ryan and the others worried about them yet? Also, had Leo, Sapphire and Leona returned home yet? She wondered if she should send a letter to Creekside to request the rest of the society come to aid the Shawlians. However, she also wondered how much difference four to six Pokémon would make in the battle to come. Still, maybe if Shawlia turned out to need help and no other local settlements would come to her aid, the Grand Island’s Pokémon could be the greatest hope for those looking to defeat the CTO.

It was not long until the crowd fell silent. They had done so because Zoltar had stepped out of the front gate of the Shawlia City Hall flanked by two Yamper Watch Officers. He barked out, “The City Council has a critically important announcement for you all! Please be quiet and listen well. Thank you all for coming and be ready to spread the message you are about to hear to anyone you know who could not be here today.”

Once Zoltar was done speaking, the three members of the Shawlia City Council: Zachary, Alessandra and Scipio stepped out onto the balcony. Once the crowd seemed to be completely silent, Scipio began, “Citizens of Shawlia and foreign visitors, we come before you all today with grave news. We have, as of yesterday, discovered the truth behind our loss of contact with many of the settlements to the south and in the vicinity of Mount Galtia. We now know that a hostile and invasive army of Pokémon calling themselves the Crusader Force under the supposed authority of a shadowy leader they simply call their Prophet have been advancing toward us for months. Their agents have prevented any word of their presence from leaking to us until now. These foreign zealots claim to be the followers of the ‘Church of the Overdiety.’ They claim that their god originated all of existence and that all other deities and demigods are unworthy of anyone’s worship. Now, these infidels have captured our Hilltop Shrine and slain the attendants. They may very well march on Shawlia within weeks, or even sooner.”

As the crowd gasped and murmured, Alessandra spoke, saying, “We promise all of you that we are by no means fabricating this threat. We have witnesses from within the City Watch and testimony from the adventurers’ who we contracted to check on the Hilltop Shrine to back up what we are saying. In fact, some members of the famed Creekside Adventurers’ Society from the Grand Island have graciously been assisting our local adventurers league and support the SAL’s testimony. Even their Society Head is here among us today. We also assure you all that we tried to negotiate with the foreign zealots to try and convince them to leave Shawlia alone. However, the Crusaders of the Church of the Overdiety have blatantly refused to negotiate with us and have profaned the name of Arceus by declaring them to be unworthy of worship. They claim that their god is stronger and older than Arceus, but offer no concrete proof of their claims.”

Annika was flattered that she had been mentioned directly, even if not by name, in Alessandra’s portion of the speech. As the crowd continued to get more agitated and concerned, Annika saw Zachary step forward.

Zachary cleared his throat and then declared, “Do not fear just yet good citizens and visitors! We will not allow these blasphemous infidels to capture this city! In fact, we have voted two to one on our plan of attack at this critical moment. Watch Captain Zoltar has been ordered to raise a citizen’s militia to bolster the ranks of the city watch. He is going to march our forces, along with any other auxiliaries we can muster, to the Hilltop Shrine in no more than four days’ time. We will repel the enemy from our shrine and show them the mistake they have made with a dramatic show of force! We will need everyone’s help in this defense of our city and of our faith! Once the Hilltop Shrine is recaptured, we may have to push the infidels further south towards Mount Galtia in order to ensure that they do not threaten us again. We must stand together for Arceus and for Shawlia!”

The crowd cheered this time, as Annika admitted to herself that she hated to be involved in a war between rival faiths. Still, she knew that the Shawlians were not the aggressors in this conflict. The CTO had started all of this, not the worshippers of Arceus. Also, Annika wanted to know who the Prophet really was. Why were they so determined to end the worship of everyone else other than their god? Why were they not using their name and did they even have one? Finally, what were they in the first place, a human, a Pokémon, or something else, something from another dimension entirely? Azura had mentioned the existence of many dimensions in her speech. Those words had come right from the mouth of the Prophet after all.

Now, Zoltar announced, “We will accept any citizens we deem to be more of an asset than a liability as volunteers for the temporary militia we are going to need to rapidly assemble. We will also be assembling citizens’ work crews to fortify our walls and ready heavy weaponry such as ballistae and catapults for battle. This will be in case the Crusaders are able to reach Shawlia with an assault force of any size. We intend to strike at them before they can strike at us. Therefore, we all will need to work quickly. We have already sent couriers to the nearest port cities and other settlements to learn if they have encountered the infidels before. We will also ask for any aid they may be willing to send us for the battles to come. Finally, we are willing to provide fair pay and appropriate lodgings for any foreign adventurers and fighters who will join us as auxiliaries for the duration of this conflict. Please be willing to work your hardest, even if you will not be on the front lines of battle. We will need everyone’s cooperation if we are to defeat this great evil that now looms over us!”

Annika was actually impressed at Zoltar’s rhetorical ability. The crowd was now chanting, “For Arceus and for Shawlia!” She hoped that the Boltund Watch Captain would be more willing to trust Eliza and her adventurers’ league now that they would be a part of Shawlia’s limited forces. Also, the SAL’s five members were some of the only Pokémon in Shawlia with experience in fighting against the Crusader Force.

The three city council members and Zoltar did their best to start setting up stations where citizens could volunteer to join the citizen’s militia or help with the fortification of the city walls and the moving of artillery into place.

As the crowd began to split up into groups, a Cramorant Watch Officer found the eleven adventurers and told them that they would be informed as soon as their services were required. They were also told that their help in fortifying the city walls and training militia volunteers would also be much appreciated.

Annika and Eliza lead their teams away separately to see what they could do to help prepare Shawlia for the battles to come. Annika was determined to see the conflict through. Even if she did not have many of her oldest friends and comrades by her side this time.


	16. The Preemptive Assault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again readers, I just wanted to let you all know that since my last chapter posting when I announced this story's in-production sequel, I have made some really significant headway in writing that story. Now, I believe that the rough draft will possibly be finished by Monday when I post this story's next chapter. What this all means is that it is getting more and more likely that the third installment in this series will be finished soon and will be posted very soon after this story is fully posted. I will post new updates as they come up, of course. Also, this story is now halfway posted! Thank you all for reading once again.

Over the next three days, Shawlia was a buzz of activity. Many foreign ships docked at the harbor left and said they would not return until the conflict was over, seeing war as bad for business. However, some visitors stayed to try and help the locals fight the CTO. The couriers sent to the two rival ports on the Northern Adalsian Coastline returned with messages thanking the Shawlians for the warning, but not offering any real aid. Zoltar seemed not too surprised by their unwillingness to aid Shawlia. The inland communities who the Shawlians had reached out to seemed mixed in their responses. Two of them simply declared an intent to hunker down and prepare their own defenses. One of them seemed to be now actively battling CTO Crusaders. The most frightening of all the reports was that one of the couriers had had to beat a hasty retreat as the village she had been sent to contact had already been occupied by the CTO’s forces.

It had become clear that no help was coming for Shawlia anytime soon. If anyone was going to come, they would likely come from the Grand Island. Sadly, any help from there would take at least a couple weeks, if not over a month, to arrive if called for and assembled. The city council of Shawlia had decided to try and launch their preemptive attack on the crusader forces gathered around the Hilltop Shrine four days after they had revealed the existence of the CTO to their citizenry. Watch Captain Zoltar was to lead a force of around seventy Pokémon, including almost the entirety of the City Watch. The CAS and SAL members following the assault force would be given special orders. Therefore, they would most likely not be taking part in the main battle.

The day before the assault force was to begin moving out a few hours before sunrise, Annika and her five comrades were gathered at the SAL HQ. with them were all four members of the SAL other than Riccardo. The SAL’s head of research was out receiving the orders for the adventurers as well as some sort of “special payment” for them.

When Riccardo walked in the door, he was carrying a scroll and two small wrapped bundles. He put the scroll down on the table and told Eliza, “That scroll has our orders. You should read it as it applies to both teams. As for these…” Riccardo began to unfurl one of the bundles. He then placed it on the floor and told Nia, “I believe that this is for you, my beautiful princess.”

Nia cocked her head a bit and then walked over to the bundle. She finished unfurling it with her front paws and then gasped excitedly. She tapped a paw to a whitish stone, as Riccardo began to unfurl the other bundle with his hands.

Nia’s whole body began to glow as she evolved from Ice Vulpix to Ice Ninetales.

Riccardo was now holding a yellow stone in his hands, it was consumed as his entire body began to glow, causing him to evolve from Pikachu to Raichu.

Nia and Riccardo smiled at each other cutely, as Eliza picked up the scroll and began to read it over.

Sylvester mentioned, “I guess that city council approved us being given those in the hopes of strengthening Nia and Riccardo for the upcoming battle.”

Nia happily exclaimed, “I look like my mother now! I feel so very…regal!”

Marcy rolled her eyes and Lawrence chuckled as Annika asked Eliza, “What do our orders say? What does Zoltar need us to do? I know that we are going to rest here tonight, going to sleep early, and then march south through the Daedic Forests to the hills past the woods.”

Eliza replied, “Once the assault force is almost to the hill the main road crests, we are to split up into our two teams and each go take up a position in one of the thin passes between the hill and the hills next to it on each side. Our job will be to stop any enemies who attempt to advance through the passes from trying to outflank Captain Zoltar’s main force as they attempt to retake the Hilltop Shrine from the CTO.”

Annika nodded and replied, “Eliza, the fact that your league has been given the same orders that my team was given shows that the local government is gaining more confidence in you. My team will help defend our pass as best as we can. I expect you all to do the same.”

Jenny admitted, “I wish that we were being given this sort of opportunity to prove ourselves under better circumstances. We simply cannot afford to let the City Watch and Militia members down!”

Marcy added, “Both teams should be aware that their goal will be to stop any enemies from getting past you, even a few of them could cause a dangerous disruption for our allies. We may want to consider taking up ambush positions using whatever foliage we can find as cover. Alyssa’s senses will certainly help our team know if any hostiles are coming our way. As for the SAL team, you will want to take advantage of Jenny and Lilac’s skills to see if you can detect any enemies approaching your position. Of course, it is possible that no enemies will try to advance past the hill to flank the main Shawlian force. Still, we will be there as valuable insurance in case the enemy does make an attempt to move through the passes.”

The SAL members did their best to make note of Marcy’s advice. Annika and her team then prepared to stay the night at the SAL HQ, so that they would be close to the southern gate and ready to advance as soon as the main force was ready.

When Annika was woken up by Eliza, she was informed that a watch Cramorant had just left after alerting her that it was time to move out now. The two teams of adventurers got up, only taking a brief moment to try and shake off their drowsiness, got their packs on and then departed the SAL HQ. Lilac made sure to lock the door behind them.

When the eleven Adventurers reached the southern gate, they saw a large “crowd” of Pokémon awaiting them. The vanguard of this force was made up of around thirty Shawlia City Watch Officers lead by Captain Zoltar. Behind them was a somewhat random assortment of around forty Pokémon wearing blue and green sashes. These were the members of the hastily-formed Shawlian Citizens Militia.

Once Zoltar saw that the adventurer auxiliaries had arrived, he announced, “We will be leaving around a fourth of the active-duty watch and some of the less-experienced militia members to protect the city in case of a CTO sneak attack. Now that everyone is here, I will explain the purpose of this mission one more time. We are to advance down the road and up the hill just past the Daedic Forests. We are then to recapture the Hilltop Shrine from the CTO and set up a defensible position atop the hill to be reinforced later. Our goals are both to recapture the shrine and ensure that the Crusader Force and whatever other units the CTO has deployed are kept a good distance from Shawlia proper for the foreseeable future. Our auxiliary units should have reviewed their special orders by now. If there are no questions at this stage, we will move out momentarily.”

As Annika and Eliza’s teams got into position at the rear of the formation, Annika marveled at how quickly the use of the acronym “CTO” to identify the fanatical invaders had spread throughout Shawlia.

It was less than a half-hour until the final preparations for the assault force to move out had been taken care of. With Zoltar at the head of the formation, the Shawlian force advanced out of the southern gate of the city and began to march through the Daedic Forests towards the Hilltop Shrine.

It took the marching force until sometime in the afternoon to close in on the Hilltop Shrine. The Shawlian air scouts had identified a number of airborne crusaders flying around the hilltop. However, none of them tried to attack the marching Shawlians, likely due to the fact that they would be outnumbered without their ground forces there to support them.

What worried Annika more was that there was no real way for the Shawlian force and their auxiliaries to take their enemies by surprise now. Still, she had known that this was not meant to be a stealth operation. The Shawlians were trying to hit their new enemies hard and fast as a show of force. They wanted the crusaders of the CTO to see them coming and still lose to them.

As the Shawlians neared the Hilltop Shrine, the eleven adventurers split up into their two teams based on their two organizations. As Annika led her team to the right and Eliza led her team to the left, Alyssa called back to Zoltar, “I can sense at least twenty enemies atop the hill at this range. Be careful up there. We will do our best to cover you down here against any enemies who try to get around your forces.”

Zoltar barked back, “The same to you about being careful. I expect no less than total success from the famed Creekside Adventurer’s Society.”

Annika noted that Zoltar had not mentioned the SAL in his response to Alyssa. However, she was currently focused on getting her team around the main hill and into the narrow pass between the hills so that they could do the job they had been entrusted with.

Annika and her team advanced into the gap between the two hills as Zoltar’s force began to pick up speed and advance up the hill. Eliza’s team was now out of the view of Annika’s team.

Once Annika and company were between the hills, they could relatively easily hear the sounds of battle beginning above them. They also saw airborne Pokémon from both forces flying above them, engaging in dogfights. Annika considered giving the order for her comrades to blast some of the airborne enemies. However, she knew that that could very well give away her team’s positions to the enemy. They would want any enemies advancing into the pass to be unaware of their presence until they were engaged in combat.

Marcy looked around the area and mentioned, I see a couple of trees and some shrubbery. However, I do not know if all of us can hide behind…”

Alyssa pointed forward dramatically and interrupted, “I sense a cloud of auras from the other side making their way over here. I don’t think we will have time to hide! There are at least nine of them!”

Annika nodded and ordered, “Everyone, get ready for a fight! Take up positions and don’t let any enemies through!”

Lawrence rushed forward to stand next to Alyssa, who gripped her Mega Stone. Marcy stood at the ready next to Annika while Sylvester and Nia prepared to snipe from the rear.

Nia mentioned, “I have a new way of dispatching our enemies I would love to try out! Let’s see who comes our way!”

Suddenly, a unit of Munna floated into view. They were followed by two Musharna and a bizarre creature that looked a piece of painted wall that had become animate somehow.

Alyssa called out, “They have a Runerigus with them!” She then Mega-Evolved, along with Marcy.

As the surprised Munna and Musharna began to launch beams of psychic energy at the CAS members, the Runerigus charged up a large sphere of shadowy energy and hurled it at Nia.

Nia was unable to dodge the attack. However, she withstood it and quickly retaliated by conjuring up a beam consisting of a multitude of ice crystals and icicles above her head. The freezing beam blasted the Runerigus head on, badly wounding him.

Alyssa conjured her bone staff and began to attack one of the Musharna with it. Sylvester blasted a Munna out of the air with a pulse of water right between the eyes.

Annika rushed forward as beams of pinkish mental energy were absorbed by her body without causing her any injury. She then leapt into the air and tore into a Munna with a dark energy claw. The floating Pokémon reeled back and collapsed to the ground.

As Lawrence began to rush towards the other Musharna and charge his body with electricity, Marcy bolted forward and downed a Munna with a conjured fist of dark energy that shot forward a few feet from her body.

The Runerigus flew forward, dodging a blast of water from Sylvester, and slashed the Dewott adventurer with claws made up of shadowy energy.

As Sylvester staggered back a bit, Nia froze the air right in front of her, creating a dagger of ice. She then launched it into the Runerigus, staggering him further.

The Munna who remained in the fight began to focus their attacks on Nia. However, she managed to leap into the air and evade two beams of psychic energy. Annika jumped up to cover Nia and hacked into another Munna before she could easily float away, dropping that foe.

Alyssa kept up striking with her bone staff, while Lawrence delivered a devastating point-blank shock to the Musharna he was fighting.

Marcy ran forward until she was right underneath a Munna and delivered a fist of dark energy to the foe, targeting her underbelly. That Munna did not stand a chance and tumbled out of the sky from Marcy’s attack.

Sylvester took one of his shells and delivered a nasty strike to the Runerigus Crusader. The blow felled the mighty enemy, who collapsed to the ground no longer able to levitate. After finishing the enemy leader, Sylvester told Nia, “Before you say anything, I know that you softened him up quite a bit.”

Nia nodded to Sylvester and then quickly evaded a beam of pinkish energy from a Munna. She then rushed forward, leapt up and downed her foe with a dark-energy empowered tackle to the ground.

The two Musharna were alone now. Annika rapidly ran under the one Alyssa was fighting and then sliced into her back with a claw that glowed with black light.

Now, only one Musharna remained. Unfortunately for her, she was dropped by Marcy and Lawrence’s coordinated attacks before she could retreat.

As Alyssa and Marcy returned to their regular forms, Annika asked her wife, “Aly, can you sense what’s happening up on the hilltop? It seems like the enemy did attempt to send a small unit to outflank the main Shawlian force. I hope that Zoltar’s main force is doing as well as we are.”

Alyssa closed her eyes and focused intently for a moment. She then replied, “I can sense that Zoltar’s forces have defeated the crusaders guarding the shrine. However, there were certainly some losses on their side. Flyers on both sides are still dueling in the skies. The bad news is that a relief force of Crusaders, at least thirty of them, is making its way up the southern side of the hill now. It also seems like Eliza’s team had to face a crusader attack squad. However, they are all still standing for now.”

Nia looked clearly relieved as Annika ordered, “We need to stay ready to face another hostile attempt to push through this pass. We will hold this position until told otherwise.”

Annika’s comrades all nodded as Alyssa closed her eyes again and announced, “I sense another five auras on their way towards our position! One of them seems pretty strong and the other four are airborne!”

Marcy noted, “They must have realized that their first sneak attack did not make much of a dent. They are going to try again while their relief force tries to retake the hill.”

Annika and her five comrades prepared themselves for action. It was not long until they noticed a miniature sandstorm whipping up in front of them. Annika ordered, “Alyssa, Lawrence you two advance and deal with whoever is generating that storm! Cover the rest of us!”

Suddenly, as Annika’s comrades began to follow her orders, a barrage of rocks fell on the backlines of the CAS team. Annika and Nia were both hit hard and Sylvester and Marcy were both also injured.

A crusader Tyrannitar advanced into to view at the center of the sandstorm. He gripped a Mega Stone and transformed into an even more intimidating form. Four Scyther flew above him and his storm and began to dive at Annika and her backline allies.

Alyssa and Marcy both could not Mega Evolve again so quickly after the earlier battle. Annika knew that as Marcy began to charge up energy across her body.

Alyssa charged into battle with the Tyrannitar, she struck him with a palm to the red spot on his stomach, badly wounding him. However, he countered by enflaming his fangs and biting down hard into Alyssa’s stomach.

As Alyssa recoiled in pain, the wounded Annika aimed a blast of frigid air from her claws and sniped a Scyther who was diving right for her. The blast slowed the foe enough that Annika was able to evade her attack. The Scyther had to land on her feet in order to avoid slamming into the ground head and scythe-claws first.

Nia used a dagger of ice to finish off the female Scyther that had failed to strike Annika. However, there were still four enemies left in the fight.

Lawrence shouted out, “I don’t think there is much I can do to the big guy! I’ll stand in his way, though.” He then summoned a lightning strike which seared one of the airborne crusader Scyther, who still withstood the sudden blast.

As Marcy continued to charge up energy, Sylvester launched a cone of high-pressure water into the sky. His blast downed the Scyther who Lawrence had zapped. The other two enemies were still flying downwards. One of them sliced into Marcy’s back with a razor-sharp limb. The other struck Sylvester in the chest as retaliation for his attack.

Alyssa planted her palm on her foe again and channeled energy through it. However, the Tyrannitar refused to go down, despite the severe wounds he was withstanding. He shouted, “You must have known we were coming! Still, your allies atop the hill will fail soon enough! For the Overdiety and for the Prophet!” He then bit into Alyssa’s chest with his flaming teeth.

Alyssa was forced onto one knee by the bite. She clutched her wounds and glared up at her opponent.

Annika saw that her wife was on her last legs and shouted over to her, “Heal yourself, Aly!”

Marcy then unleashed her razors of energy across the area. The razors downed the two remaining enemy Scyther, slightly wounded the Tyrannitar and took out an airborne Corvisquire Crusader who had not been engaging Annika’s team.

Annika rushed forward to help her wife. Nia and Sylvester covered her with their ranged attacks. However, the Tyrannitar was still conscious and bearing down on Alyssa.

Annika entered the radius of the sandstorm as Lawrence called down a lighting strike on the Tyrannitar to distract and injure him. Alyssa then called out to her comrades, “He is on his very last legs! He's just good at hiding it!”

Annika was surprised as her wife conjured up an Aura Sphere and launched it point-blank into the enemy commander. He was sent flying into the air as his sandstorm was dispelled. The enemy crashed to the ground, no longer mega-evolved, or breathing, for that matter.

The wounded Annika and Alyssa embraced as Marcy admitted, “That enemy was a real challenge, even for us. His hide rendered most attacks not very effective. Still, we won out in the end.”

Right after Alyssa let Annika go, Nia suggested, “I know that you are wounded, Miss Alyssa. However, could you please scan the area again to see how the battle is progressing?”

Alyssa nodded and then closed her eyes again. It did not take her long to open them and exclaim, “No! Damn it!”

Annika quickly asked her wife, “Aly, what did you sense? What is going on?”

Alyssa turned to her wife and comrades and told them, her voice quivering, “I sense at least fifty additional enemies making a beeline for the hill in addition to the ones already fighting Zoltar’s forces there. Eliza’s team has survived another enemy attack as well. However, they are in even worse shape than we are… Annika, everyone, I don’t think that this plan can work. The CTO must have quite a large force marshalled not too far from here.”

Annika trusted Alyssa more than anyone else in the world, even after it had turned out that she had been keeping one major secret since they had met. She also knew that her wife was not one to give up easily, as she had just demonstrated. All she could do was think fast. She would have to make a tough decision here and make it quickly.


	17. An Unsuccessful Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am happy to report that the rough draft of this story's sequel is now finished. Editing has also begun on it and already has made significant headway. The third and final CAS story will most likely begin posting within a week or so of this story becoming fully posted. I will keep providing new updates as they become available. Also, this story is now more than halfway posted. Thank you all for reading once again.

Annika and the other members of the CAS Away Team were all standing and recovering from their injuries in the small pass they had been assigned to defend. They were right next to the hill upon which sat the shrine that had become the first contested position in the nascent war between the City of Shawlia and the enigmatic Church of the Overdiety.

Annika had just heard from her wife Alyssa that a significant force of CTO Crusaders was on its way to assist the crusaders already fighting the Shawlian forces. Airborne combatants on both sides were still dueling in the skies above the hills.

After having healed herself with a pulse of radiant energy. Alyssa closed her eyes again and said, “The Shawlian forces have already lost some of their vanguard of watch officers in this battle. The militia members with them have less experience and discipline. I hate to say this, but I predict that when the next wave of crusaders arrives, there is a very high chance that the Shawlian forces will be devastated completely.”

Nia pointed out, “To add to that, the SAL team is not doing very well either. We are also worse for wear after that last fight. Lady Annika, I absolutely hate to back down and you know that, but we might need to alert the main force and then attempt a strategic retreat back to Shawlia.”

Marcy added, “The Crusaders may have even wanted us to try something like this assault. They could very well be hoping to severely weaken Shawlia’s forces and then sweep into the city with ease with so many of her defenders out of the way.”

For once, Nia seemed to agree with Marcy, as Sylvester said, “If the enemy can simply keep throwing troops into the fight from nearby positions and we don’t have any reinforcements close by, then we have no real chance of holding the hilltop.”

Lawrence looked to Annika and told her, “You are our leader, boss. It is up to you to determine how we proceed here. We will follow your orders as best as we can, as always.”

Annika clenched her claws and sighed deeply, she then announced, “I think that we need to let Zoltar know about the incoming third wave of enemies for sure. In order to do that, we need to contact Eliza’s team and have them send Jenny up to the hilltop to warn the main force, since she can fly.”

Alyssa suggested, “We better hurry then. We should probably stay together and hope that a third wave of CTO soldiers does not try to advance through this pass. Fortunately, I do not sense anymore of them incoming at the moment.” 

Annika nodded and, after Alyssa distributed some quick healing, led her group around the hill to try and meet up with the SAL. When the CAS members reached the other pass, they saw Eliza and her four teammates battered badly, but doing their best to hold their positions.

Riccardo noticed the CAS members first and asked, “What are you all doing here? You have your own position to defend…”

Annika interjected, “Aly has sensed a significant enemy unit at least fifty Pokémon strong incoming. We don’t think that our embattled allies atop the hill are going to survive once they arrive in force and relieve the crusaders fighting there now!”

Eliza angrily asked, “Are you saying that we need to retreat again now?”

Alyssa nodded and said, “We cannot afford to leave Shawlia proper so undefended. We need to minimize our losses in this battle. We need you to send Jenny up to ensure that the main force is aware of what is going on!”

Ty told Eliza, “As a longtime mercenary, I see the sense in what they are saying. Protecting Shawlia should be our ultimate goal. I think that we should have Jenny deliver the message to Captain Zoltar and hope that he understands it’s urgency.”

Eliza slammed a clawed fist into a tree and then told Jenny, “Get up to Zoltar and tell him that Alyssa has sensed the incoming enemy reinforcements. We will do our best to cover you against any enemies who try to knock you out of the sky.”

Jenny saluted Eliza and then launched herself into the air. A couple of airborne crusaders tried to engage her. However a barrage of attacks from Nia, Riccardo, Annika and Lawrence shot them down before they could get any hits in.

Alyssa used one of her healing pulses on Eliza and then focused her Aura Sense again. Lilac and Ty kept watch for any more enemies that could possibly be heading their way. It was not long until Alyssa opened her eyes and said, “Captain Zoltar is still up there and fighting as best as he can at the front of the Shawlian formation. Jenny seems to have reached him. We can only hope that he gets the message and calls a tactical retreat soon.”

The next few moments were extremely tense for the CAS and SAL members in the pass. They could still hear the sounds of battle above them and see the flyers from each force dueling in the sky. Annika and her allies sent up a few ranged attacks to help the flying Shawlian units. However, they knew that significant enemy backup was almost upon their allies and possibly themselves.

Alyssa finally said, as the sounds of battle began to grow a bit more dim, “It seems like the Shawlian formation has gotten Jenny’s message. They are starting to make an organized retreat. Still, I would estimate that they have taken around a third of their force as casualties of some kind. The bad news is that the enemy reinforcements are starting to march up the hill. There are even more of them than I estimated before.”

Annika took charge of the situation and called out, “We need to go and join the retreat now! We have got to get back to Shawlia and be ready to defend her when the inevitable siege comes!”

As Jenny flew down to join them, Annika led the adventurers on the ground north out of the pass. When they were back on the main road, they saw Zoltar at the head of his retreating forces. The Shawlian Watch Captain looked over at Alyssa and told her, “Thanks for that message. We saw the massed enemy force starting their advance up the hill pretty much just as Jenny reached us. We will have to return to the city and see what the council decides to do this time.”

Nia pointed out, “I just hope that they do not try to surrender the city.”

Lawrence responded, “I doubt that, considering the ways they described the CTO earlier. They have set themselves up in such a way that if they tried to surrender, they would probably be removed from office.”

Marcy shouted, “We can discuss our next move when we are back in the city! For now, we have to haul ass back to Shawlia…again.”

Eliza said, “I agree with Marcy. We need to make it back to Shawlia so that she has able defenders when the full-scale enemy assault comes.”

Zoltar led his forces south at full speed down the main road. They stayed in close formation with their flyers covering them from the sky. Thankfully, according to Alyssa mainly, the crusaders were focused on creating a perimeter around the shrine and assessing their own losses. Annika was relieved that the CTO forces were once again not pursuing them. However, she had a bad feeling that that meant that they were so confident that they could and would capture Shawlia that they were willing to miss the chance to wipe out even more of her defenders before the final push. Maybe it was that they did not want to risk any more of their forces in pursuing the retreating Shawlians. Maybe it was that they were actually unsure if any pursuing force they sent after the Shawlians would be fully successful. At least that was certainly what Annika hoped the crusaders were thinking.

It was night once again when the fifty or so survivors of the force that had left Shawlia to take and hold the Hilltop Shrine returned to the city. The southern gate of Shawlia was opened for what was left of the assault force and then promptly shut soon after they were all safely inside the city proper. On the way back, Zoltar had mentioned having seen a simian Pokémon he referred to as a Rillaboom leading the third wave of enemies from the front. He had been wearing a well-decorated purple and pinkish-red coat that made Zoltar wonder if he was someone important within the CTO hierarchy.

Annika and her comrades returned to their hotel, which now had far fewer other guests than it had hosted before the announcement of the threat to Shawlia. They did their best to get a decent night’s sleep that night. However, Annika went to sleep in Alyssa’s arms legitimately concerned about what was going to happen to Shawlia in the near future. She had hitched her away team to the city’s fate and things were not looking well for the settlement. Still, she was not going to give up so easily. Besides, almost all of the ships still in harbor were Shawlian-owned and would not be likely to sail away while the city was under threat. That was, unless the situation became completely hopeless. The CAS Away Team would need to honor their commitment to the Shawlians. Even if they could easily escape back to the Grand Island, Annika’s pride and conscience would both not allow her to back down now just because the chips were down at the moment.

The next morning, Annika and company were informed by the hotel staff that the city council was going to hold another meeting in the central plaza that day three hours after noon. They had been asked to attend, along with pretty much the whole city.

Annika and her comrades went to meet with the SAL right after lunch. Eliza and her team had been given the exact same information that the CAS members had. They decided to go together to see what the city council’s, rapidly decided, plan B was going to be.

When the two teams of adventurers got to the central plaza, they saw a massive crowd like last time. This time the crowd was somewhat smaller, however. Zoltar was standing in front of the city hall once again with two of his Yamper Watch Officers.

It was not long until Scipio, Alessandra and Zachary appeared on the balcony. This time, Alessandra was the first of the trio to speak. She solemnly explained, “Everyone, I regret to inform you all that our initial plan of attack has failed. We could not retake the Hilltop Shrine from the infidel church’s fanatical warriors. Thankfully, some of our auxiliaries were able to determine when the enemy numbers had grown too large to fight with any decent chance of success and Watch Captain Zoltar was able to command a successful retreat that saved more than half of our assault force. With all of that said, we have voted two-to-one on a new plan of action. We will be focusing nearly all of our community’s efforts on the defense of our city now.”

As the crowd murmured nervously, Scipio explained, “Our new strategy is to allow the enemy to come to us, rather than try to attack them where they clearly have reinforcements waiting in the wings. We will make sure that Shawlia is able to weather the storm of war and then, once the enemy has failed to breach our walls, we will make a plan to counterattack them and recapture our shrine. From there, we will see how far south we can push the infidels, hopefully with some other allies by that point.”

Zachary finished, “We will all have to give it our all in order to prevent our enemies from capturing this city! This time, we will be fighting to protect our home and our faith! Orders will soon be given out for everyone willing to work on building projects and to join the watch or the militia. We must not fail! For Arceus and for Shawlia!”

The crowd cheered to some extent as Zachary finished his declaration. However, it was obvious to Annika that almost everyone in the central plaza was worried about their situation. The initial enthusiasm from before the preemptive assault had really worn off. As the crowd began to disperse and the locals and the few foreign visitors who remained prepared to receive new orders, Annika just wondered what size and form the CTO’s assault on Shawlia would take when it was inevitably launched.


	18. The Day of the Invasion

The week following the announcement of the change in strategy was a busy one for those who had stayed in the port city of Shawlia. The city council had done their best to send out one final plea for assistance to any nearby settlements on the Adalsian Continent. However, very little came in the way of material aid. It was believed that any attempts to solicit aid from inhabited regions of the Grand Island, or another continent, would not be worth the effort at the moment. The amount of time that it would take in order to marshal an allied foreign army and sail it to Shawlia was almost certainly greater than the amount of time the city had until it found itself directly under siege. There was also an idea floating around that the Shawlians would be more easily able to gain allies in their fight if they could prove themselves in battle against the CTO’s army and put the foreign fanatics on the defensive. What concerned Annika the most about Shawlia’s situation, other than the actual threat of invasion and conquest, was that some Shawlians were opposed to soliciting foreign aid out of a fear that Shawlia would then owe the foreign state, or states, something in return down the line.

Many Shawlians, including the city council member Zachary, were openly convinced that the city could survive a direct assault from the CTO. However, the CAS and the SAL had both been given secret special orders by the city council. There were still seven ships of various sizes in the harbor. These ships were to all have at least a skeleton crew of trained sailors ready to mon them on short notice. The idea was that if it seemed certain that Shawlia’s defenses were going to be overrun, then an evacuation would be ordered. The ships would board as many non-combatant civilians as they could and then sail away at full speed. There was currently no evidence that the enigmatic CTO had a naval presence of any sort. Therefore, there was hope that the ships would not be pursued very far, if at all. The CAS members were asked to help the naval evacuation if one was deemed necessary by holding off any enemies trying to intercept the fleeing civilians.

As for Eliza’s team, their potential job was different, yet similar to the CAS Away Team’s. They were to help any civilians who were trying to escape the city using either the western or eastern gate. They would likely have to pick one of those escape routes, gather civilians willing to flee the city and then escort them to somewhere safe.

Annika was wondering about whether or not the emergency evacuation plans would end up being necessary. She hoped that Shawlia would withstand the invasion that they knew was coming. She did not want to give the CTO the satisfaction of taking the city, which seemed to be a major goal of theirs. Also, running from, or outright losing, a fight did not seem becoming of the famed Creekside Adventurers’ Society. Her team had been doing its best to help train the local militia and help fortify the city walls over the course of the week since the city council had announced their new defense-focused strategy.

As for the CTO, the Shawlia City Watch had sent out a few teams of air scouts to check on the Hilltop Shrine. They could only head so far south before they had to turn back to avoid serious CTO resistance. What they had found was that the Crusaders had been setting up a significant number of camps just north of the hills both in the Daedic Forests and on the main road. Their numbers were unclear, but it was most likely that they were well over one hundred and fifty combatants strong. It had ultimately proved to be a good idea for the Shawlian assault force to retreat when they had, seeing as though they would truly need their defensive advantage against the force that was now preparing to march on their city. Five days after the announcement of the change in strategy, the Shawlia City Watch had received permission to stop sending out air scouts from the city council. They had asked for permission on account of the enemy presence to the immediate south having become so strong that it was a near certainly that their air scouts teams would be intercepted and prevented from returning home to Shawlia.

Annika and her comrades had not been spending much time in their hotel lately. They had been busy preparing for the impending invasion. The City Watch had apparently come up with a rough plan of defense for when the CTO marched on Shawlia. However, it was subject to change based on what strategy the enemy appeared to employ once their forces were sighted on approach to the port city.

Early in the morning, exactly eight days after the change in strategy had been announced, Annika and company were meeting with the SAL in their headquarters building. Eliza had noted earlier that the SAL’s base of operations would be likely to come under attack relatively quickly if the CTO breached the city walls. However, she was more concerned with the welfare of her team than with the safety of her old miner’s barracks of a base. The other SAL members were the closest thing had Eliza had to a family at this point in her life.

Riccardo mentioned to the other ten adventurers, “From what scouting reports we have, it does seem like the CTO has been amassing quite the army to the immediate south of here. It sounds like only a matter of time before they march on this city.”

Jenny added, “I can’t imagine having to leave this city, the place where I grew up. Still, that may be what happens if we lose the battle to come….”

Ty pointed out, “That is not the worse that could happen. I may not have grown up in Shawlia, but I hate to think of what our new enemies will do if they get this place and its inhabitants in their clutches.”

Annika just nodded and pointed out, “The CAS has never failed a mission yet and we do not intend to start now!”

Alyssa nodded, but still added, “There was that one time where Annika and I were captured by Reaver cultists and nearly murdered… However, we were rescued in time, obviously.”

Sylvester mentioned, “The great irony in that situation was that some of your rescuers ended up being among your greatest enemies in the end. The Acolytes of the Mystic Lands greatest achievement ended up being unintentionally making the CAS famous through their defeat.”

Marcy admitted, “I still wish that I could have been there to help Annika and Alyssa deal with Lucius… Speaking of the Reavers, I am still glad that we put a stop to them on the Grand Island for good. I will never forgive them for what they did to Lawrence and I’s original hometown… and to Sparks.”

Nia did not seem to have any response to Marcy’s statement. Instead, she said, “I have faith in Lady Annika and in the dedication of the local watch and militia members to their home and their religion. This ‘Church of the Overdiety’ is an affront to the order of our world, just like the AML turned out to be. They will be dealt with in due time.”

Annika was impressed by Nia’s confidence. However, she could not help but be moderately annoyed by the Princess of Anetisia’s more conservative outlook. As she was about to reply, there was a hurried knock at the door.

Lilac walked over to the door and opened it. Standing just outside was a Shawlia City Watch Officer who’s species Annika remembered was called Morpeko. The Morpeko wasted no time in alerting the assembled adventurers, “The Crusaders are marching on the city from the south! They should be at the southern gate within two hours! All of you are to report to the top of the walls adjacent to the southern gate as soon as possible!”

Eliza saluted the Morpeko and told her, “We will be on our way immediately! My team, gather whatever projectiles and other combat gear you have and let’s head out!”

As the Morpeko left in an obvious hurry, the SAL and CAS members readied their gear and then quickly left the SAL HQ. Lilac locked the door behind them, not that it mattered much at this point.

As the eleven adventurers made their way south through the streets of Shawlia, they noticed a number of civilians making their way north. They would not want to be too close to the battle. They also saw city watch officers, militia members and anyone else willing to fight making their way towards the southern wall.

Annika asked Eliza, “Just to confirm, my team is to assist the defenders to the east of the gate, while your team helps to protect the western portion of the wall?”

Eliza nodded and told Annika, “We will split up once we are close to the southern gate. The other defenders will be readying the artillery atop the walls and probably barricading the main gate.”

When the adventurers reached the southern gate, they saw that it was abuzz with activity. Zoltar and Zachary were commanding the defenders to load and ready ballistae and catapults atop the walls. The southern gate had had been barred and reinforced and even had some extra debris placed right behind it to try and slow down the invaders if they destroyed the gate itself.

When Zoltar saw the adventurers, he told them, “Split up into your teams and stay close to the main gate! We will want your attacks focused on the enemies trying to get through it directly. If they are smart, they will have their toughest and hardest-hitting soldiers trying to get through the gate and in to the city.”

Annika also noticed that there were a significant number of flying Pokémon fluttering about. These defenders were likely going to be primarily in charge of taking down any airborne enemies who tried to simply fly over the wall and surprise the fighters inside the city.

Annika and Eliza’s teams split up and then took up their positions atop the walls. They took out projectiles and blast seeds for those without long-range attacks to throw at the enemy. The crews manning the four ballistae and four catapults atop the wall were getting ready to fire on command. It seemed like Zoltar himself was going to command the squad that would be standing right behind the southern gate. That way, any enemies who got past it would have to deal with his unit right away. Zachary was in command atop the walls. However, he was standing on the section where Eliza and her team were positioned.

Annika looked out over the Daedic Forests, trying to see the incoming enemies. She could see a column of Pokémon the distance moving north up the main road. They were getting closer to the city walls relatively quickly.

Alyssa reached out with her Aura Sense and closed her eyes. She seemed to stay focused for what felt like a few minutes. Once she opened her eyes, she called out, “There are enemies moving through the forests on both sides of the main road! They are using the trees as cover while their main column advances up the road.”

Marcy added, “It will not be easy to fire artillery, or even most normal ranged attacks, into the forests without just hitting a tree. I will do my best to spot for the artillery on this section of the wall once the order to fire at will has been given!”

Annika ordered Lawrence, Alyssa, Nia and Sylvester, “We will focus on ranged attacks! We will have to do our best to weaken the main CTO column as it approaches the gate!”

Annika was unsure how much time passed as the final preparations were made for the battle and the remaining Shawlian defenders got into position. Annika estimated that there were as many as one-hundred Pokémon ready to defend Shawlia at the moment. Only a few combatants had been held back in reserve to be ready to hold off any possible CTO sneak attacks targeting the city from any other angles.

By this point the crusader main column was clearly visible and the order to fire the defenders’ artillery and other long-range attacks was likely to be given at any moment. Alyssa closed her eyes and her aura-sensing organs tensed up again.

When Alyssa opened her eyes, she turned to Annika and stammered, “There are so many of them! The enemies moving through the forests are harder to see, but I sense them all. All told, there are at least… two, maybe three, hundred of them!”

Annika looked her wife in the eyes and grimaced with determination. She told Alyssa and the rest of her team as the crusaders continued to close in, “We are not backing down now… We cannot just walk away from this fight! We have never been truly defeated before!”

Suddenly, Zachary’s voice called out, “They have to be in range now…OPEN FIRE!”


	19. The Battle of Shawlia

Annika and her five comrades were standing on the southern wall of Shawlia along with a number of other defenders as the horde of CTO Crusaders rapidly advanced up the main road and through the Daedic Forests. City Council Member Zachary had just given the order for the city’s artillery to open fire on the advancing enemies.

As a few of the defenders atop the walls launched their long-range attacks into the hostile swarm, the four catapults and four ballistae fired on the CTO forces. The four heavy weapons farther away from the southern gate, two on each side, fired on the enemies moving under the cover of the Daedic Forests. The other four heavy weapons fired on the main column heading towards the city on the main road. Those projectiles missed the vanguard of the column and impacted some of the crusaders just behind them.

Marcy pointed out, “The artillery is not having as much of an effect on the enemies advancing through the forests! I will do my best to spot for the crews on this side.”

Alyssa pointed to the head of the main CTO column and called out, “I see a pair of Copperajah leading the charge. If we don’t stop them, their trunks and sheer bulk could batter down the main gate!”

Alyssa fired an Aura Sphere into one of the two large, orange and blue-green quadrupeds that were leading the charge. He withstood the attack and kept single-mindedly charging forward.

Annika looked up and saw at least a few dozen flying crusaders diving for the walls of Shawlia. At the head of a V-shaped formation made up of two Corvisquire and four Rookidee was Octavian, the Corviknight Captain her team had faced in battle before.

As Shawlia’s flying defenders flew in to engage their airborne foes, Annika heard a booming male voice calling out from right behind the charging Copperajah. The voice announced, “This is Commander Harrison, leader of the Crusader Force! Today is the day that we strike our biggest blow yet to the worshippers of the unworthy Arceus! Today, we will liberate this city from her false faith! For the Prophet and for the Overdiety!”

As the CTO forces let out a massed shout of “For the Prophet and for the Overdiety!” Alyssa pointed out, “There’s that Rillaboom that Zoltar saw earlier! He is moving in right behind their Copperajah! …What is that odd crystal object on his necklace?”

Annika noticed the Rillaboom Harrison wearing a well-decorated coat in CTO colors and charging into battle where Alyssa had pointed. There was indeed a spiked crystal of some kind on a long necklace that he was wearing. Annika called back, “We need to focus on stopping them from getting past the city walls for now!” She then channeled an icy blast into the sky and knocked out an incoming hostile Corvisquire with it.

Eliza’s team were mostly tossing iron thorns and blast seeds at the charging enemies one their side. Riccardo was focused on shooting off orbs of electricity and calling down lightning strikes from his vantage point.

Nia was targeting tough-looking enemies and blasting them with beams of freezing icicles. Marcy was spotting for the artillery as they reloaded. Lawrence was calling down lightning strikes of his own and Sylvester was blasting the nearest enemies with high-pressure gouts of water.

Alyssa noted that the two enemy Copperajah were closing in on the gate. She Mega-Evolved and conjured up a second Aura Sphere, which she fired into the same enemy she had sniped before. That Copperajah was still conscious and kept advancing despite his injuries.

Zachary ordered, “Artillery units, focus on those Copperajah! Take them down now!”

The gunnery crews did as they were ordered and two Ballista bolts perforated and finished the Copperajah that Alyssa had wounded before. The other one was stuck by a catapult boulder and was slowed by the strike. This gave the other defenders a chance to pepper her with ranged attacks of all kinds, weakening the advancing foe badly.

More crusaders rushed around their fallen Copperajah comrade to close in on the gate. Annika heard someone calling out, “I see two squads of Battle Farfetch’d, each led by a Sirfetch’d, advancing on the gate!”

After Annika freeze-blasted a hostile Rookidee out of the sky and the rest of the Shawlian artillery opened fire, Annika saw two white-feathered flightless birds armed with leek spears and leafy shields charging toward the gate with a total of eight dark brown Farfetch’d following them forward.

Harrison was holding his position and summoning up swarms of sharp leaves that he would then fire at the rooftop defenders. The Crusaders advancing through the Daedic Forests to either side of the main road had slowed their advance and were returning fire on the defenders atop the walls, forcing some of them to duck for cover.

Alyssa quickly finished the stunned Copperajah with a third Aura Sphere and then ducked to avoid a series of Crusader ranged attacks aimed at her in retaliation.

Lawrence pointed out, “They have lost their main siege units! Still, they have plenty of soldiers left and they seem to have no desire to retreat for now!”

Annika saw Octavian dive bombing a catapult farther along the wall with his squad covering him. His armored body rammed the artillery piece clear off the wall and forced the crew to scramble for cover in terror. As the Crusader Captain took off into the sky again, two of his followers were taken down by watch officers positioned nearby on the wall.

Now, Annika saw that some of the enemies on the ground had reached the southern gate. The Sirfetch’d began to charge right for the gate with their leak lances as their allies did their very best to deal whatever damage they could to the structure. Thankfully for the Shawlians, the gate was holding for now. The defenders on the walls fired down whatever attacks and projectiles they could onto the Crusaders below them, three Battle Farfetch’d went down from the storm of attacks.

Annika shouted to her team, “Focus on the airborne enemies trying to take out the artillery and the enemies attacking the gate!”

Nia added, “Don’t get too far out of cover, though. We are taking a lot of attacks from the enemies below us!”

The remaining Shawlian artillery units fired for the third time. This volley of shots wiped out a number of the crusaders taking cover in the nearby woods, as well as a large number of trees. The airborne Shawlian defenders were focusing on keeping enemy flyers away from their artillery. However, they were not having perfect success in that effort.

Meanwhile, the crusader forces on the ground just seemed to keep coming. There was clearly a visible rear of the enemy forces at this point. However, the Shawlians had not gotten close to wearing the invasion force down enough to allow those backlines to really come into play.

Annika leapt up into the air to tear into an enemy Pidove with her claws, knocking her out of the sky. She saw that her CAS comrades all still standing. Other than Marcy, they were all directing their ranged attacks at whatever enemies seemed the most threatening at the moment. Marcy had still not Mega-Evolved due to her focusing on spotting for the nearby artillery over actually attacking. Alyssa’s Mega-Evolution was probably going to wear off any moment at this rate.

The crusader troops gathered in front of the gate were tearing into it bit by bit. However, they were not making much progress and were also taking significant losses from Zachary and his fellow defenders. Eliza’s team was putting quite a bit of their focus into taking out any enemies who looked to be damaging the gate at all with their attacks.

Suddenly, Harrison, who had been focused on trying to suppress the defenders atop the walls who were targeting his soldiers loudly ordered, “Get back and away from the gate! I will get us through it myself! Cover me as best as you can!”

Harrison then ripped the spiked crystal off of his necklace and proclaimed, “Now, we will put the blessing of the Prophet to the test! We will enter Shawlia and no worshippers of Arceus will stop us!” Harrison’s soldiers quickly parted as he charged the gate, dodging attacks along the way. He then stopped his advance and threw the crystal into the ground.

The crystal shattered and a torrent of reddish energy surged out of it and enveloped Harrison, who laughed triumphantly. Harrison began to absorb the energy and in the process, he grew to a colossal size bigger than any Pokémon Annika had ever seen. The only exception was possibly Wailord.

Now towering over the gate and the walls, Harrison stepped forward, taking a barrage of attacks that seemed to only barely slow him down. He then brought his fists down on the southern gate of Shawlia and shattered most of it to splinters.

Zoltar barked out, “Reserve forces, hold the breach for as long as you can!”

As Zoltar’s unit began firing ranged attacks at the swarms of crusaders now rushing forward towards the debris of the gate to assist their commander, Harrison tossed a number of massive seeds into the Shawlian formation behind the shattered gate. The giant projectiles exploded and knocked out two watch Stonjourner and wounded and knocked out a number of the other Shawlian defenders.

Somewhat surprisingly, Harrison now began to retreat back and allow his soldiers to pour in to the breach he had made. They seemed to have gained renewed vigor after seeing their leader destroy the gate with whatever power the mysterious crystal had granted him. Calls of “For the Prophet and for the Overdiety” rang out across the battlefield.

Annika blasted the gigantic Harrison with freezing air as he fell back. However, he remained standing and the fired a barrage of seeds at the section of wall Eliza’s team was helping to defend. The attack destroyed three artillery pieces and weakened a number of the defenders.

Marcy shouted, “We need to try and stem the tide pouring into the breach!”

Alyssa nodded as her Mega Evolution began to wear off. She then fired an Aura Sphere into one of the enemy Sirfetch’d who was still standing, badly wounding him.

Nia called out, “Captain Zoltar’s troops are being pushed back! Should we try to help them?”

Annika prepared to try and snipe Harrison again. However, she lowered her claws as he began to shrink back down to his regular size. Octavian was still in the sky and currently dive-bombing a nearby ballista.

Sylvester then called out, “I see two watch Cramorant coming this way fast! One of them is heading for Eliza’s team and one is heading this way!”

Annika took cover and looked around to see that Sylvester was indeed right. One of the two incoming Cramorant flew over to Eliza while the other flew over to Annika.

The Cramorant urgently told the leader of the CAS, “The enemy has sent in smaller teams to attack the city’s eastern and western gates. At least one of them should be inside the city now. City Council Members Scipio and Alessandra have ordered the pre-planned evacuation of Shawlia. Captain Zoltar’s forces are to hold out for as long as they can in a fighting retreat. Your team is to help any civilians trying to escape via ship. Please make your way to the harbor as fast as you can!”

Annika simply nodded yes and saluted the Cramorant. She then shouted to her five comrades, as the Cramorant flew off into the thick battle, “The evacuation has been called! We are to help as many civilians to escape by sea as we can! Follow me to the docks!”

Nia looked seriously upset as the CAS Away Team made for the nearest set of stairs. Annika looked over and saw Eliza leading her team down another set of stairs. They were likely going to have to lead the civilians who could not easily get to the docks out of the city by another means. That could involve breaking through, or slipping past, one of the CTO teams that had infiltrated Shawlia from the sides gates.

Once both teams of adventurers were off of the walls, Annika and Eliza shared a brief nod and a salute. The two groups then parted ways. Nia and Riccardo shared a longing glance just as the two teams were separating. Eliza’s team seemed to be heading northwest. Annika’s team was heading due north. They needed to help whatever civilians evacuees they could to escape the city by sea.

Annika was still somewhat in shock from the speed and effectiveness of the crusaders’ assault. She was also unsure of what to make of the mysterious crystal that had allowed Harrison to grow to an enormous size temporarily. However, she knew that her team needed to help as many Shawlians escape the port city as possible. She knew that whoever was left in the city would be facing an uncertain fate when the CTO inevitably seized control. The defense of Shawlia had failed. Now, it was time for the CAS to try and save as many of her citizens as they could from the fanatical invasion.


	20. The Evacuation

Annika was leading her away team north through the streets of Shawlia. They could hear the sounds of the losing battle the city watch and militia were fighting to the south dimming as they made a beeline for the city docks. They knew well that their mission was to defend the citizens of Shawlia who were trying to evacuate the city by ship.

As the team began to see some civilians gathering in the central plaza, Lawrence asked Annika, “What is our plan, ma’am?”

Annika replied, “We head to the harbor and help as many civilians evacuate as we can. We fight off any enemies who make it to the harbor and then attempt to escape the city ourselves once the ships are all sailing away. Aly, your Aura Sense will be key in determining if any crusaders are headed our way, how many of them there are and how fast they are moving.”

Marcy mentioned, “Since there are enemies breaking into the city from both the east and the west and it looked like the SAL was going to head west, we will probably face more opposition coming from the east. Those infiltration teams might also be focused on trying to outflank Zoltar and Zachary’s remaining defenders first, rather than trying to secure the docks.”

Alyssa told her comrades, “I will make sure to scan the area as frequently as I can. That will help us to determine if any crusaders are heading in our direction. I still can’t help but be worried about Captain Zoltar, even after seeing the way he treated Eliza earlier. His remaining troops will likely have to make the CTO forces fight for every inch in order to buy us and the civilians who choose to evacuate time.”

When the CAS Away Team reached the central plaza, they learned that the civilians who were trying to evacuate were making their way south to the docks, led by City Council Member Scipio. The crews of the seven ships were hopefully already making preparations to sail as soon as they were filled to capacity. Some Shawlians were refusing to leave their homes and were going to stay and either fight or surrender to the CTO rather than abandon their city. A few of them even headed south to try and bolster the desperate force that was likely still trying to hold the, now breached, southern gate.

It turned out that City Council Member Alessandra was staying in the Shawlia City Hall with some of the civilians who were refusing to flee. She made her intention to try and negotiate with the invaders in the hopes that nothing truly terrible would befall the Shawlians who did not escape the city clear to Annika’s team when they briefly stopped in the plaza.

Annika only took a brief moment to check in with Alessandra. She then led her comrades to take up positions at the rear of the processions of evacuees making their way towards the docks. There were somewhere between one hundred and two hundred Shawlians making their way for the docks. Others were likely trying to get out of one of the other gates of the city. Annika certainly hoped that Eliza’s team would be able to break through, or evade, whatever enemies were entering Shawlia from the west and help anyone they could to escape the battle.

Alyssa continued to scan the area with her Aura Sense as the CAS Away Team followed their charges toward the docks. As they kept getting closer, Alyssa announced, “I sense some hostile auras heading this way from the east. There are at least fifteen of them. They are still a good distance away, but they are getting closer to the docks. They might be splitting up into two smaller teams…”

Annika called out to the evacuees, “Keep moving until you are on the ships! We will cover you, but we need to give the enemy as little time as possible to seize the docks!”

Marcy suggested, “We will be outnumbered if we end up needing to fight these enemies. However, I don’t think we will be able to convince many of the civilians here to help us fight if that means they will lose their chance to board an escaping ship. We might have to hold them off as long as we can and then make a break for it before the main enemy force sends any soldiers this way.”

Annika nodded as the processions picked up the pace and continued to close in on the harbor.

When the evacuees were in sight of the ships, Alyssa called out, “The enemy teams are closing in fast! They have split up into two groups. The one heading farther west has only five members. However, the larger group has ten members and more are on the way behind them.”

Annika sighed and clenched her claws. She then called out to the evacuees, “The escape ships are in sight! Split up as best as you can and tell the crews to sail away as soon as they are filled up on passengers! We will protect the harbor for as long as we can!”

The evacuees surged forward into the harbor and began doing their best, with Scipio trying to maintain order, to split up efficiently and start to board the seven ships. Thankfully, the crews seemed ready to sail and the ships were supposed to have been decently provisioned for their voyages.

As Annika saw that the boarding was now well underway, she asked her wife, “Aly, what’s the status of the enemy advance?”

Alyssa closed her eyes and her aura-sensing organs tensed. She then opened her eyes and replied, “The two teams I mentioned earlier are almost here. They have more backup on the way. I don’t know what has become of Zoltar’s forces, or the SAL. However, we need to prepare for combat in the next ten or so minutes.”

Annika nodded. She then closed her own eyes and took a deep breath. After she opened her eyes, she walked over to Sylvester and placed her clawed hands gently on his shoulders. As the rest of the CAS Away Team watched, Annika told him, “Sylvester, I have a special order for you…”

Sylvester looked puzzled and asked Annika, “What is it, ma’am?”

Annika replied, “Whether or not we get away after defending the evacuation, I want you to get on a ship with the evacuees. Sylvester, I hereby order you, as the Society Head of the CAS, to get back to the Grand Island and back home to Creekside Town. You are to tell everyone you meet on the way about what has been happening here. I want Drake and the others to know that the CAS is to spread the word about the threat of the CTO around the Grand Island. We have seen firsthand now how strong this new enemy is, we are probably going to need an army of our own to defeat them for good. The CAS is so respected around the Grand Island that I believe that our name and our fame will inspire others to join an effort to counterattack the CTO. Even if it has to be phrased as some kind of religious counter-crusade, it will be worth it. I don’t think that this ‘Prophet’ will stop until this entire world is under their control. We need to stop them before they become nigh-unstoppable. Take as long as you need, but get an army ready back home!”

Sylvester looked nervous and conflicted. He asked Annika, “But what of all of you?”

Annika replied, “We will try to escape after holding off the enemy for as long as we can. Maybe we will even meet you back home later? Just remember my orders and carry them out. I have faith in you, Sylvester. You always said you were a truth seeker. Now is your chance to reveal a dire truth to the wider world. You can help us more back home than here. Now, go quickly and let us handle the incoming enemies.”

Right after Annika withdrew her claws from Sylvester’s shoulders, he saluted her with a tear in one of his eyes. He then told her, “I will not let any of you down! We will win this, the CAS has never lost before!” He then took off for one of the larger ships.

Marcy pointed out, “He was the least experienced member of the away team. It makes sense that he would be the one sent back home. Still, I can only hope that he gets back to Creekside. Someone has to tell our comrades there what is happening here.”

Alyssa nodded and then announced, “Those enemy auras are getting closer! The evacuation is proceeding nicely, but we need to be ready at a moment’s notice!”

Annika asked her wife, “Are the closest ones still split up into two groups?”

Alyssa replied, “Yes, the smaller group will likely enter the harbor from a street to the west of here.”

Nia asked, “Will we need to split up in that case?”

Annika nodded and ordered, “Marcy, Lawrence you two work well together. I want the two of you to head west and keep your eyes peeled for the smaller enemy team. I want you two to engage them and eliminate as many of them as you can. Aly, Nia and I will hold our position here.”

Marcy sighed a bit. However, she then nodded to Annika and replied, “As you wish, we will do our best as always. It looks like two of the ships are already pulling out of the harbor. We can only hope that the others will soon follow suit and our job here will be done.”

Lawrence saluted Annika, Alyssa and Nia and then followed Marcy over to take up their positions a couple of blocks in the distance.

As two more of the ships began to pull out of the harbor, Alyssa closed her eyes and announced, “The hostile auras are almost here. We will have to engage the first wave at least. However, after that we should be able to regroup with Marcy and Lawrence and then get out of here before we can be overwhelmed.”

Nia added, “I hate the idea of retreat. Still, we have a job to do and there are others counting on us. Lady Annika, I will stand with you and Miss Alyssa here and we will hold the line!”

Annika nodded as one more ship pulled out of the harbor behind her. She thought of all the possessions and homes that the fleeing Shawlians were leaving behind. She hoped that one day they could return home safely. She was also worried for those who stayed behind in the city, or were trapped alive by the CTO’s forces. Who knew what would happen to them. For now, she knew that her team had an important job to do. There were still two ships that had not left the harbor. One was closer to Marcy and Lawrence’s position. The other was not far behind where Annika was standing.

Alyssa shouted out, “Here they come! Only two ships left and now they make an appearance…”

The first members of the first wave to appear were three bipeds Alyssa called Raboot. There were two Cufant not far behind them. However, a Coalossal and two living mine carts Alyssa called Carkol came right behind those five Pokémon. Annika recognized some of these individuals from before. Therefore, it was no surprise that the Shadower Azura sprang into view and stood next to the Coalossal. Finally, a Turtonator crusader lumbered into view behind Azura.

Azura wasted no time in pointing to the three adventuresses and ordering, “Engage them! Allow Harrison and his forces to round up whoever else they can, we are here to capture these docks!”

Azura’s subordinates responded, “For the Prophet and for the Overdiety!” As they advanced on Annika’s trio.

Suddenly, the ship that was finishing up boarding its final few passengers not far from the trio fired two Ballista bolts at the CTO advance squad. One enemy Cufant went down in one hit from an iron-tipped bolt. Azura expertly dodged a second bolt, which struck her Coalossal ally. The Coalossal’s rocky body easily withstood the projectile and he angrily broke off the shaft and roared intimidatingly in response.

Annika shouted up at the ship, “Get out of here! We will deal with these guys!” She then dove for a nearby empty supply crate and took cover.

Alyssa held her Mega Stone and was about to grip it hard. However, Azura held out a finger like a crossbow, or a firearm from Annika’s birth world. She projected a high-velocity beam of water right at Alyssa’s outstretched hand. Alyssa’s Mega Stone was hit, but not destroyed. It tumbled out of Alyssa’s hands and fell to the ground.

As Annika admitted to herself that Azura was an impressive sniper, Nia suddenly charged at the advancing hostiles. Her body began to shimmer with ice as she shouted, “Cover me! I will blast as many of them as I can!”

Alyssa charged up an Aura Sphere and launched it into the remaining Cufant. The ball of blue light connected with the enemy and knocked her out cold.

Annika peered out above her cover, aimed a blast of frozen air at the Turtonator at the rear of the hostile formation and launched it. The attack wounded the enemy. However, he and the other CTO soldiers kept coming.

Nia ran at the enemy formation and detonated a blast of freezing snow over the three Raboot and two Carkol who advanced on her. However, all five of the enemies remained conscious and able to keep fighting.

The two Carkol counterattacked first. One of them summoned a series of boulders and flung them directly into Nia. The other’s body lit up with fire and then the crusader rushed headlong into the Ice Ninetales. Nia recoiled in pain from the two attacks.

Two of the three Raboot breathed pulses of fire into Nia, who staggered back in pain. again The final member of the trio lit up her body and then rushed Nia, delivering a kick to her face and knocking out of the fight.

Alyssa and Annika both shouted, “Nia!” However, before they could try and come to the aid of their fallen ally, The Coalossal lit up his own body and rocketed forward towards the exposed Alyssa.

Seeing the mighty foe coming towards her at high speed, Alyssa leapt into the air and evaded the fiery charge. However, the Coalossal changed course while moving and barreled right into Annika’s cover. The flaming full-body strike demolished the supply crate and knocked Annika back so far that she was almost in the water.

Two more Ballista bolts thudded into the Coalossal, slowing him down slightly. Annika quickly looked back to see that the final evacuation ship in this section of the harbor was pulling out to sea now. Now, it was time to retreat, the only issue was finding a way to retrieve the unconscious Nia.

As Annika took an opportunity to get farther away from the Coalossal chasing her down, she saw Alyssa advancing on the quintet of enemies that were now between her and the unconscious Nia. Alyssa conjured up her bone staff and delivered two rapid strikes to a Carkol, knocking the enemy out near-effortlessly.

Annika saw the remaining Carkol rushing over to try and help chase her down and she gulped. Alyssa took two flaming pulses from the Raboot as the Turtonator charged ahead of Azura towards Annika. He then fired off a mighty blast of flames above his Carkol ally’s head.

Annika was so focused on trying to get far away from the recovering Coalossal that she was unable to dodge the blast of fire. She took the attack to her side and felt a deep, burning pain. She knew that she could not take many more hits now.

Alyssa was still trying to reach Nia so that she could heal her. She knocked out an enemy Raboot with a bone staff strike to the head. However, Azura breathed out a heavier blast of water at Alyssa, injuring her and pushing her back onto one knee briefly. The blast also disintegrated Alyssa’s bone staff.

Annika knew that things were not looking good at the moment. She then looked back and saw Alyssa’s Mega Stone, a gift she had gotten for her beloved before her evolution when she was still a member of the AML, lying on the ground. She doubled back, dodging a second massive blast of fire from the incoming Turtonator. The remaining hostile Carkol rushed past Annika and had to stop quickly in order to avoid falling off the harbor and into the water.

As Alyssa stood back up and dodged another pulse of fire from a Raboot, Annika ran for Alyssa’s Mega Stone. She intended to pick it up and get it to her wife. Then, she could hopefully last long enough to revive Nia and the trio would make their escape without further ado.

Annika was not able to reach the Mega Stone, as the Coalossal stood in her way. Annika charged up her claws with dark energy and sliced into the wounded enemy. He recoiled in pain and looked about to collapse. However, he rapidly conjured up a series of boulders and shouted in a low and ponderous voice, “We are tired of your resistance!”

Annika saw that Alyssa was clearly tired and getting surrounded by the two Raboot, the Turtonator and Azura. However, she had no time to call out to her wife before the boulders crashed into her.

Having been unable to dodge her enemy’s attack, Annika collapsed onto the ground on her side, her mind reeling with pain. The last thing she saw as she blacked out was the final ship from nearby where Marcy and Lawrence had been positioned pulling out of the harbor and out into the open ocean.


	21. Imprisoned

When Annika finally began to stir, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up. Her mind was still racing and she felt exhausted. However, the thing that she noticed first was that she could not see the sky. There was a solid stone ceiling above her. The flicker of torchlight was also something that Annika noticed very quickly after opening her eyes.

Annika began to notice her breathing. She wanted to make sure that she was still alive. She had no real beliefs about any sort of afterlife, even though she had never denied the possibility of one. The last thing the Weavile adventuress remembered was blacking out after being struck with boulders from the Coalossal crusader that had been part of Azura’s infiltration team.

Annika tried to stand up, when she tried to use her arms to get onto her feet, she stumbled a bit and ended up on one knee. It was then when she realized that she could not move her hands apart from each other. She looked down and realized that her wrists were bound in front of her back by some sort of metal cuffs. These restraints were odd, they kept Annika’s clawed hands a short fixed distance from each other and had a solid piece of metal linking them together. The edges of the two cuffs glowed a reddish color very faintly. The strangest thing about the bonds Annika noticed was the tip of a crystal glowing the same reddish color sticking out from the metal piece linking the cuffs together.

Annika managed to get to her feet despite her being bound. Shen then began to realize that she still felt weak, but in a way she had not felt since her transformation into a Pokémon over a year ago. As she did her best to mentally process what was going on, she looked around and saw someone sitting on a bed just behind her. It only took Annika half a second to realize that it was none other than Alyssa.

Alyssa was sitting on the bench with her eyes closed and concentrating on something. Her aura-sensing organs were twitching slightly and not raising up very high now. Annika quickly saw that her wife was bound with the same kind of cuffs that she was wearing.

Annika took a brief look behind her and saw that she was indeed in a barred cell. Across from the cell she was sharing with Alyssa was another barred cell which held an unconscious Nia. Nia was wearing a collar around her neck that looked very similar to Annika and Alyssa’s restraints. There was a small box coming off one side of it that looked to contain a crystal like the one in the central piece Annika’s cuffs. Annika also saw a heavy iron door that looked to be locked to her left and one more cell to her right.

Annika turned back to her wife and walked over next to her. She then asked, “Aly? Are you alright?”

Alyssa’s eyes shot open and she and Annika locked eyes. Alyssa then stood up and asked her wife, “How long have you been up?”

Annika replied, “I just woke up, what were you trying to do just now?”

Alyssa sighed and told Annika, “I was trying to scan the area with my Aura Sense, to no avail. In case you have not noticed, these cuffs seem to suppress our natural powers. How they came to be produced is yet another mystery regarding the CTO. However, I do know that they are called ‘Draining Cuffs.’”

Annika asked, “I see that Nia was also captured. She does not seem to have woken up yet. How long have you been awake, Aly?”

Alyssa sighed again and confessed, “Annika, I surrendered as soon as I saw you get knocked out. My only condition was that you and Nia were to be kept alive as well. The CTO leader who called herself the Shadower Azura accepted my surrender and then had her troops confiscate my Mega Stone and other gear. They checked you and Nia and made sure that you were both still breathing and stable. They then got some chains to bind me with and marched me away and dragged you two with us. Once they met up with their allies, they unchained me, cuffed the two of us and collared Nia. We are now in the high-security wing of what was the Shawlia City Watch’s dungeon. This building is a bit south of the city center, not in the central plaza.”

Annika was actually very surprised that her wife had willingly surrendered to anyone. She had always known Alyssa to be a passionate sort who would not give up easily. She still had other questions for her beloved. However, Annika was also just relieved that she and her wife were alive after their defeat.

Annika asked Alyssa, “What happened to Marcy and Lawrence? What else do you know?”

Alyssa nodded and replied, “Marcy and Lawrence managed to defend their position for as long as they could. They retreated out of my range after the final evacuation ship departed. I do not know if they got away safely, or not. I also do not know what happened to the SAL members, Zoltar, Zachary or anyone else in particular. My Aura Sense was still active until I was bound with these draining cuffs. I could at least tell that they seemed to have rounded up a number of civilians. The crusaders were also possibly trying to find someone with authority who had stayed behind to force to formally surrender the city to them. I also had to give our captors my name and tell them that we are foreign adventurers when Azura briefly questioned me on the way here.”

Annika realized that there was an extremely high chance that Alessandra would be the one who the CTO would try to force to surrender the city to them. She then decided to ask Alyssa, “Aly, why did you surrender? You never struck me as the type to just give up.”

Alyssa gave Annika a serious look and told her, “I surrendered because I knew that there was no real way for me to escape at that point. More importantly, I surrendered because I love you Annika. I knew that if I fled, even if I got away, your fate would be uncertain. I know that ever since my recent admission on the Dralka Town Beach, you have been subtly concerned about our relationship. I have sensed it in your aura. I am really, sincerely, sorry that I hid a part of myself from you for so long. I surrendered so that I would have a chance to ensure that your life was spared, not to mention Nia’s. Annika, you are committed, driven, smart, brave and of course, cute. I would never leave you to an enemy’s mercy alone.”

Annika now had tears in her eyes, she replied, “Aly…Alyssa, you know that I love you too. I forgive you for keeping that secret and I really appreciate how you gave up your chance at escape, no matter how slim it was, for a chance that I would be spared. You are, devoted, passionate, courageous, caring and of course, beautiful. Regardless of what happens to us now, there is nobody I would rather be here with than you, the love of my life.”

Alyssa lowered herself a bit and closed her eyes. She and Annika did their best to hold hands as they shared a long kiss. Whenever Annika and Alyssa kissed, Alyssa’s snout was scrunched up. However, Alyssa not told Annika long ago that she did not care, it was worth it to be able to kiss her.

Just as soon as Annika’s lips parted from those of her wife, the two of them heard some moaning from behind them. The young couple turned around to see Nia stirring and then slowly standing up. The Princess looked around and nervously asked Annika and Alyssa, “Lady Annika, Miss Alyssa, what happened? Where are we?”

Alyssa replied and explained what had happened to Nia. The Anetisian Princess seemed despondent and admitted, “I should not have rushed in like I did. Still, my stupidity might not have doomed us to this fate alone. We were outnumbered by three to one, or more. I should say that I do not have much faith that we will see Marcy again. If she got away, with or without Lawrence, I doubt that she will be the one to come back for us if anyone does.”

Annika shook her head and annoyedly replied, “If anyone does come to try and rescue us, I can see Marcy refusing to not be involved if she is with them. She is not who you think she is, Nia.”

Alyssa nodded and then mentioned, “We can only hope that the as many Shawlians as possible escaped the city’s fall. It is frankly disheartening to know that we never really stood a chance against the full might of the CTO. Between these restraints and that crystal Commander Harrison used, they are not like any other group I have ever encountered.”

Annika sighed and then added, “Not to mention that the identity of the ‘Prophet’ is still a near-complete mystery to us.”

Nia pointed out, “My only recommendation for now is that we try to gain whatever information about the CTO we can while we are being held here. I just hope that our captors do not try to get information out of us through torture… or decide to do away with us…”

Alyssa pointed out, “I think that if they wanted us dead badly enough, we would be dead by now. I think that they only have so many of these draining restraints. They would probably not waste them on prisoners they intend to execute… at least that is my hope.”

Nia admitted, “My greatest hope, other than being rescued, is that Riccardo is safe now. I would give my inheritance to get us out of here and be in his arms now…”

Annika’s mouth was agape, knowing that Nia’s inheritance was a small realm that she was to rule one day. Nia and Riccardo must have really hit it off since they had met. For the moment she was both frustrated and sad about the fact that the CAS might have just faced their first real loss. She did not think anyone would be coming to rescue the three of them anytime soon.

Later on, Annika did not know how much time had passed, A Raboot crusader opened the heavy metal door to the cell block and gave the trio of prisoners what he said were their dinners. The guard gave the captives no other information. However, he seemed respectful and professional in his conduct.

After eating their small dinners, the three prisoners decided to get some sleep. Annika and Alyssa curled up as best as they could on their cell’s bed and Nia curled up on her cell’s bed as well.

When Annika woke up, she found that Alyssa was already awake. Nia was sleeping, but woke up reasonably soon. Alyssa surmised that the CTO forces were likely busy solidifying their control over Shawlia at the moment. They had won the battle, despite some significant losses. They were probably tending to their badly wounded, counting their dead and assessing which Shawlians they would treat as prisoners of war and which they would treat as new subjects. They could also be re-fortifying the city in case of a possible future counterattack from anyone opposed to their faith and their goals.

It felt like at least five hours and two meals had passed when the door to the cellblock opened again. This time, Azura came through the door, accompanied by a Raboot guard and a taller white and orange male who Alyssa whispered was a “Cinderace.” The Cinderace was wearing a purple helmet of some kind that still exposed most of his face as well as two crossed purple sashes.

While the Raboot kept watch, Azura turned to Annika and Alyssa’s cell and sternly told them, “We have a question for you. You will answer it truthfully, understood?”

Annika and Alyssa nodded and then Azura asked, “Is it true that you two are Annika and Alyssa of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society?”

Alyssa turned to look at her wife. Annika, not sure why the CTO officers were trying to ascertain their captives’ identities, but impressed that even they knew what the CAS was, answered, “Yes. That we are.”

The Cinderace, seeming somewhat excited, responded, “Wow! You really are from the famed CAS! It is certainly strange to meet real heroes when they are behind bars… don’t you think so, Azura?”

Azura sighed and replied, “Beck, you should well know that I do not consider any of our enemies to be heroes. Still, if these two really are the ones who slew the mad Hierophant Lucius, then it is an honor of some sort to be in their presence.”

Beck nodded and then bowed to Annika and Alyssa. He then told them, “Where were my manners earlier? My name is Beck, the Overseer of the Church of the Overdiety.”

Alyssa raised an eyebrow and asked, “Overseer?”

Beck nodded and responded, “Yes ma’am, I am in charge of the supply and engineering divisions of the church’s forces. Don’t mind Azura here too much, she has been the sullen type ever since we were kids.”

As Azura folded her arms and rolled her eyes. Annika wondered if the two CTO officers in front of her knew Harrison. She also realized that the news of her society’s victory over the AML had to have spread deep into the Adalsian Continent. Even the CAS’s new enemies respected what they had accomplished.

Beck then snapped Annika out of her thinking by pointing to the lock on Annika and Alyssa’s cell door and ordering the Raboot guard nearby, “Get the cell door open. The Ice Ninetales and Miss Alyssa will be staying here for now.”

As the Raboot saluted Beck and went over to carry out his orders, Alyssa defiantly asked, “What exactly do you intend to do with my wife?”

Nia also asked, “Where are you going to take Lady Annika?”

Beck cheerfully responded, “Fear not ladies, she is not to be harmed. I have orders that if her identity checked out, that I was to take her to meet with someone very important. That is all I have can say on the matter for now.”

The Raboot guard opened the cell door and Annika decided to step forward and out of the cell. Alyssa and Nia still looked concerned as Annika walked over to Beck, who gently took her one of her upper arms and began to guide her towards the cell block door. The Raboot guard quickly closed the cell door. Alyssa walked forward and gripped the bars with her bound hands soon after that.

Alyssa and Annika shared one last concerned look as Beck led Annika out of the cell block. The Raboot guard went with Azura somewhere else as Annika was taken up a flight of stairs and eventually out of the prison.

Now, Annika was being led down a city street by Beck who told her, “We have been moving quickly now that we have captured Shawlia. This city is to act as a new major base for us going forward. I do hope that the populace will embrace the true faith in due time and abandon their worship of the unworthy Arceus sooner rather than later.”

Annika looked around to see that the city streets were now mostly occupied by CTO Pokémon. There seemed to not have been much damage done to buildings this deep into the city by the yesterday’s battle. She decided to ask Beck, “Who are you taking me to see? They must be very important.”

Beck smiled and told her, “We are going to see someone you have certainly heard of, our Prophet. They know of what your society has accomplished and wanted to meet with you face-to-face. Funny enough, they are in the Central Church now, working on readying it to be converted into a house of worship for our faith. …By the way, do you worship Arceus, Miss Annika?”

Annika knew that she should have seen this coming earlier. At least now she was going to learn the Prophet’s true identity and meet them in person. The odd thing was that even Beck had referred to the Prophet as a “they.” She replied to Beck’s question, “No, I do not worship Arceus, or anyone or anything for that matter.”

Beck smiled and nodded back at Annika. He responded, “Good to hear. I would personally rather someone be non-religious than worship Arceus myself. I also believe that the Prophet would agree.”

Annika noted that the CTO’s followers really did hate Arceus. However, they also seemed to believe that they existed. Were they really brave, or insane, enough to think that they could rebel against a god and get away with it. Of course, they claimed that their own god was more powerful than Arceus. Maybe that belief really was what made them think that their cause would prevail in the end?

It did not seem like long until Annika was led to the front of the massive Shawlian Central Church of Arceus. There were a pair of Drizzile guards standing ready in front of the building. The main double doors of the church had been blasted open and a large hole was now all that remained of them. There were now many empty pedestals dotting the exterior of the church where there had likely once been statuettes of Dialga, Palkia and Arceus and possibly other Legendary Pokémon. Rubble dotted the ground around the building and some purple and reddish CTO banners now covered the structure.

Annika noted that the CTO certainly worked quickly as the two guards saluted Beck. They parted to allow the Overseer to lead the cuffed Annika to the hole where the doors to the church had once been.

Beck explained to Annika, “The Prophet awaits you inside. I would advise that you not make any attempts to escape. I will be waiting for you right here.

Annika simply nodded, she knew that there was no real point in resisting her captors at this point. Right after Beck let go of her arm, she walked inside the church, ready as she would ever be to meet the leader of the CTO.

Annika looked around her as she advanced through a small antechamber leading to the main worship hall. She admittedly found it darkly amusing that she was now entering the very building she had refused to visit earlier against her will. Of course, now it was no longer an active church in service to Arceus, that was for sure. Once she walked into the massive worship hall, through another large hole someone had made, she saw rubble strewn around the floor. It seemed as though statuettes around the hall had been destroyed by one means or another. The altar of the church and what had almost certainly been a statue of Arceus were in ruins the pews themselves had sustained little damage.

Annika almost fell backwards in shock when her eyes fell upon the one other occupant of the worship hall. She gaped at the bizarre creature currently facing away from her and towards the destroyed statue of Arceus behind the altar. The creature was huge, possibly bigger than an Onix or a Steelix. The colors on its body roughly matched the colors of the CTO, deep purple and reddish-pinkish. Oddly enough, it looked skeletal with little flesh on its bones. It was floating in the air without any part of its body touching the ground. There was also a brightly glowing white orb concealed within the hovering beast’s exposed ribcage.

The beast turned around and Annika did all that she could to conceal her terror and stand her ground as it floated towards her. It was now shown to have a draconic head and two skeletal arms and legs.

As the creature locked “eyes” with Annika, it spoke it a genderless and alien sounding, yet fully intelligible, voice, “So, it is you. Annika, the leader of the famed Creekside Adventurers’ Society. I wish that we could have met under better circumstances. I am, as you can probably guess, the Prophet of the Church of the Overdiety.”

Annika had so many questions to ask the Prophet, many of them regarding what they actually were. However, she took a deep breath and asked, “You know my name. Yet I only know your title. You clearly wished to speak with me. If we are to speak, I would like to know your name, if you have one, first of all.”

The draconic creature floated a bit closer to Annika and the nodded. They then told her, “Very well, your request is reasonable. I do have a name. However, I disdain to use it for reasons you may yet learn. My name is… Eternatus.”

Annika simply nodded slowly as Eternatus was now within feet of her. She still had many questions. However, she knew that she would have to be careful in this exchange. She was Eternatus’s prisoner, not their guest. She had no doubt that the skeletal draconic being held all the cards at the moment. She intended to get back to Alyssa alive and unharmed, even if that just meant returning to her cell in one piece.


	22. The Prophet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, I just wanted to let you know for starters that this story’s sequel is both finished and edited fully now. I should also note that this chapter contains references to and a spoiler for my second story ever on this website, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: On the Frontier of Chaos. Regardless, I hope that you are enjoying the story. It is now over two-thirds posted.

Annika was standing in the main worship hall of what had been the Shawlian Central Church of Arceus. Floating in the air directly in front of her was the Prophet of the CTO, the alien-looking being that called itself Eternatus. Eternatus’s massive skeletal body had to be the reason that larger holes had been blasted around the outer and inner doorways leading into the worship hall. With her wrists bound in draining cuffs, Annika was all but helpless at the moment. She knew that she would have to choose her words somewhat carefully when speaking with Eternatus. However, she also had things she would like to ask the enigmatic leader of the CTO. She just hoped that she would get a chance to do so. At least the draconic beast had behaved in a civil manner towards her so far.

Eternatus seemed to look around the massive room for the moment as Annika stood before them. They then floated back away from Annika, giving her some space, and seemed to sigh. Eternatus asked Annika, “Even as far south as my headquarters atop Mount Galtia, we have heard of some of the exploits of your society. Chief among those being the thwarting and destruction of the Acolytes of the Mystic Lands and the slaying of their insane leader, Lucius.”

Annika nodded politely as Eternatus continued, “If my memory serves, Lucius sought to become a god, or at least what he saw as one. Am I correct in that assumption?”

Annika replied, “Yes, that was his plan. Not even the entirety of his cult knew the whole truth until it was almost too late.”

Eternatus nodded and then pointed out, “I, of course, never met him, but Lucius was clearly arrogant in the most hideous of ways. Not unlike some who have a stronger claim to ‘godhood’ than he ever had. Tell me, Miss Annika, what, or who do you believe in?”

Annika was taken aback by Eternatus’s pointed question. She was still able to come up with an answer, unorthodox as it was. She told Eternatus, “I believe in my friends, my team and most importantly, my wife. I worship no god, or anything of the sort.”

Eternatus simply nodded their draconic head and responded, “I am glad to hear that you have not fallen for the madness of worshipping Arceus. This will not surprise you, but I hate them, Annika. They are a fraud, even more so than any of their children who receive any sort of worship from mortals.”

Annika could not but give Eternatus a look. They way that they were talking about Arceus implied a familiarity with the deity, it sounded like Eternatus had met Arceus.

Annika was about to open her mouth to ask a question when Eternatus asked, “You mentioned that your wife was the most important thing you believe in. I never did understand the idea of love. Regardless of the sexes of those who share it. I have been told that it is beautiful though. I take it that you love your wife, Alyssa?”

Annika was not surprised to hear that Eternatus was aware of her spouse’s name. However, Annika boldly replied, “I love her with all of my heart. She surrendered to your subordinate Azura because she wanted to maximize my chances of survival. I would do anything for her and I believe strongly that she would tell you the same thing if she were the one standing here before you instead of me.”

It actually felt oddly good for Annika to openly proclaim and re-affirm her love for her wife. Even though, Alyssa could not hear her at the moment. In her heart, Annika really had forgiven Alyssa for her earlier lack of honesty with her.

Eternatus cocked their massive head and responded, “If what Beck once told me is correct, my response should be something along the lines of ‘that’s so sweet.’”

Annika realized that for a conquering mastermind, Eternatus was clueless in at least one sense. It actually made her slightly less afraid of the creature before her. She then decided to ask them, “You can hopefully forgive me for asking you this, but what are you? You are not like any creature I have ever met.”

Eternatus responded, “I might not look like it, but I am what mortals call a ‘Legendary Pokémon.’”

It dawned on Annika that if Eternatus was a Legendary Pokémon, then they were probably one of the ‘Children of Arceus.’ Also, there was the fact that Alyssa had told Annika about just about every known Legendary Pokémon at some point. Yet, she had never mentioned Eternatus before, not even once. Annika raised her courage and then asked Eternatus, “If you are a Legendary Pokémon, then why do you hate Arceus? I have always been told that Arceus was the parent, or at least the grandparent, of all the Legendary Pokémon. I honestly have doubted their very existence sometimes.”

Eternatus actually laughed in their alien voice. They then told Annika, “Your society stopped someone who foolishly thought they could obtain what only the Overdiety is worthy of …worship. I will honor your valiant efforts by granting you something, knowledge that I have shared only with my top lieutenants for now.”

Annika quickly realized that Eternatus’s faith in the supposed Overdiety was genuine. It now seemed highly unlikely to her that the entity they claimed was the original god was a lie they had made up simply to attract followers. She simply stood there and waited for Eternatus to continue.

Eternatus looked down at Annika and explained, “The truth is that while I have not yet met the Overdiety, I have met Arceus. I was one of their creations. I cannot tell you how long I have lived. However, I can estimate that it has likely been centuries, if not millennia, since I was born. However, I was not born on this world. No, I was born in the depths of space. The first fellow living being I encountered upon gaining consciousness was Arceus. So, yes, Arceus is real.”

Annika should really have been less surprised than she was. Apparently Arceus was a real being, they were not just a myth. Therefore, Palkia had really been trying to track her creator down when she left Creekside Town after sparing Annika from being returned to her miserable human life. She just stammered, “Arceus… is real? …Wait, if they are your only parent, then how could you hate them? I never even knew my parents…. I just cannot see how someone could come to truly hate their parent or parents.”

Eternatus’s body flared up with energy and fire almost seemed to build up in their mouth. Before Annika could scream in terror, or try to raise her bound hands in a vain gesture to defend herself, Eternatus seemed to calm down.

As Annika took a deep breath, Eternatus sighed and told her, “Your perspective is understandable. I have heard that mortals have an innate desire to feel loved, including by their progenitors. Regardless, on with my story. …When I came into existence, my mind was essentially fully formed. Arceus told me that I was an experiment of sorts. I was a new sort of Pokémon capable of storing and unleashing great quantities of energy even when compared to many of their other creations. Arceus said that they wanted me to serve them and through that service, I would become more in touch with the unique power that I could wield. I then realized that I was not mentally enslaved to Arceus, the one thing that I will give them credit for. I still knew very little for sure at the time, so I asked Arceus who they were. They obliged me and told me that they were a god, a god who traveled from dimension to dimension creating homes for their children, the Pokémon. They also mentioned something about their first three children, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina and a battle they had waged millennia or more ago with a rival god they called Anarchos.”

Annika realized that in some twisted way it was a rare honor to be privy to such information as Eternatus was sharing with her. For one thing, there were apparently three of the First Children of Arceus instead of just two. Annika wondered what Giratina’s domain was. She also wondered what sort of god Anarchos had been and if they had survived the battle with Arceus or not.

Annika remained silent as Eternatus continued, “As Arceus told me who they were, I realized that they were not the only god in existence. I also learned that there were seemingly millions of separate dimensions that make up our multiverse. I then asked if Arceus had a master or a parent of their own. Who was my ‘grandparent?’ Arceus admitted that they did not know exactly how they had come into existence and that the multiverse predated their birth. I then asked Arceus if the mortals who lived on worlds Arceus had created or affected knew that they existed. They responded in the affirmative and that they received worship as the chief god of these peoples. It sounded like the other Legendary Pokémon acted as conduits of the truth of Arceus’s existence down to the mortals. It then became clear to me that Arceus was not doing much for their worshippers on an ongoing basis. Also, I came to the conclusion that Arceus had not told most of their children about the multiverse and that other beings of similar power existed. I asked Arceus why they did not aid their loyal worshippers in exchange for their continued devotion. They responded by telling me that they wanted their worshippers to fight their own battles and live their own lives. That answer was one that I had mixed feelings about. However, the withholding of critical information about the multiverse and about their being other gods was what truly bothered me. In that moment, I decided that Arceus could not be trusted. They asked for worship and did not give anything in return. Worse, they never gave their faithful, or their own later children, the full story about reality! Arceus was not worthy and their other children were too blinded by loyalty to see it! I knew that I would be killed or worse if I simply attacked Arceus. So, I refused to serve them and said that they should confess the truth to their children and their faithful if they wanted to redeem themselves. They responded that I had no business telling them what to do and that they would wash their ‘hands’ of me. However, instead of killing me, they left me alone in space. They said that maybe I should find a world inhabited by mortals and make myself useful to them if I wanted to make my point about honesty and service. However, they gave me no directions and simply warped away before I could say anything else to them.”

Annika was not surprised at how arrogant Arceus had clearly been. It make a sort of dark sense to her that an ancient god would have that sort of alien mindset. She then realized something and asked Eternatus, “What about your ‘Overdiety?’”

Eternatus nodded and then finished, “Of course, how prudent of you to ask. You see, as I flew through space for untold eons, trying to find an inhabited world, I came to the conclusion that some entity had to have created the initial multiverse. That entity was the only god who could be fairly allowed to get away with the sort of arrogance that Arceus had displayed to me. The first god had given untold quintillions upon quintillions of beings a chance at experiencing life. They were the only one worthy of worship, even if they did not answer the prayers sent to them. When I finally found this world, I formed a crystal shell around myself to make sure I survived the descent through the atmosphere. The pieces of that shell that have been recovered are what have allowed me to craft my Dynamax Crystals, like the one that Harrison used to break down this city’s gate. The cuffs you are wearing now work on a partial reversal of that principle, draining your energy into the crystal instead of releasing extra energy into a Pokémon when the crystal is broken. After my shell was ready, I crashed into the top of Mount Galtia. After leveling the mountain top and scattering what left of my shell around the area, three local rookie adventurers bravely came to see what had happened. You know them as Azura, Beck and Harrison. They were the first mortals I ever met and my first three converts. From there, we built out an empire dedicated to eradicating the worship of the unworthy Arceus and their children!”

Annika remembered how someone had mentioned a meteor that had struck the summit of Mount Galtia in front of her not too long ago. She now knew that that had been Eternatus. Now that Annika knew why Eternatus had chosen to venerate the “Overdiety” and only them, she had to ask, “To what end, though? You will only take one world away from Arceus. They will still have multitudes more, from what you have told me.”

Eternatus hovered much closer to the bound Annika and told her, “I want to get the attention of the Overdiety, Annika. Maybe even a divine servant of theirs, if they have any, or another god willing to accept the truth I believe in will suffice. If I can contact the Overdiety, I will offer up my immortal life in loyal and devout service to them in exchange for one thing. I want them to smite Arceus and I want to be able to watch them die. I have no illusions about my own lack of ability to kill Arceus. However, I still want their head! Even if conquering one world does not do the trick, I have another plan in the works. That, I will be keeping a secret for now.”

Annika knew what she had to point out. Her conscience would not let her do otherwise. She replied, “So, your whole plan boils down to your desire to get revenge on Arceus. Your church’s forces have taken many lives and displaced many in their war on those who do not share their views. Is that all worth it to you?”

Eternatus admitted, “I never thought that those who worship Arceus would give up their false faith so easily. I have made my calculations and my choice, Annika. My desire to see Arceus slain is more about justice than vengeance. They have it coming, as does any self-proclaimed god who acts as they do. It is time for change. I want to see my goals accomplished with minimal loss of life and property. Why do you think I had Azura deliver my message offering the Shawlian Government the chance to peacefully surrender? However, I intend to see the mission of the CTO carried out. I will finish what I have started and bear the responsibility of leading my church to victory over those who will not accept the truth.”

Annika looked Eternatus in what she had to assume were their eyes. She then told the Prophet of the CTO, “I have heard all that you have told me loud and clear. Just know that I cannot support your crusade, even though I also am not a worshipper or a supporter of Arceus.”

Eternatus seemed to sigh. They then nodded and responded, “You are as brave and as strong in your convictions as I expected you to be. I am glad that Azura took you alive. I am also glad that I could speak with you. Finally, I am glad that you will remain in our custody for now so that your energy and resources cannot be effectively used in opposing us. You make take your leave now. Beck will return you to your cell.”

Eternatus turned around and floated away from Annika. She also turned around and slowly made her way back towards the antechamber. Annika had no intention of attempting to escape her captors at the moment. Even if she could escape her bonds somehow, she would not do anything that would put Alyssa and Nia at any possible risk of reprisal, even indirectly.

As Annika was about to leave the main worship hall, she thought for a moment and then turned around one more time. Eternatus was still facing away from her. She told the Prophet of the CTO, “Before I go, I will say this. Even if I cannot stop you from carrying out your campaign of conquest, I should at least suggest that you should do so under your own name. Eternatus may be the name given to you by a parent you hate. However, it is still your name. As an orphan, I never even knew who gave me my name. You should not just hide behind your self-given title.”

Eternatus did not turn to face Annika. However, they did respond, “Your point is worth considering. Just know that I do not hide behind anyone or anything. I have faith in my agents to do their part in what must be done. I will be staying in this city for at least the next week, working to begin the process of converting the remaining populace away from the worship of Arceus. It is possible that we will meet again in that time.”

Annika had nothing left to say to Eternatus. She walked out of the church and allowed Beck to escort her back to the prison. The Cinderace Overseer seemed as upbeat as ever, even though Annika had made it clear that she had not been convinced to convert to the CTO. As she was led back to her cell, Annika knew that she had quite a bit to tell Alyssa and Nia. She now had some valuable intelligence on the CTO’s leader. The problem was that she had no way of getting the information out to whoever was still resisting the CTO.


	23. Rescue

When Annika was returned to her cell, she told Alyssa and Nia everything about her meeting with Eternatus. Their name and status as a Legendary Pokémon, their history with Arceus and the fact that Arceus was actually real. Annika also told them what Eternatus’s endgame was. Alyssa was glad to see Annika back safely, but concerned about the broader situation. She dubbed Eternatus a “Rogue Legendary Pokémon.”

Nia was quite confused as to why Eternatus had rebelled against their own parent. There was also the fact that based on the very rough timeline that Eternatus had given, they had roamed space for possibly hundreds of years. That would still make them far younger than some of the older Legendary Pokémon, who were estimated to be millions of years old. Nia also expressed some degree of worry that Eternatus could at least be right about the existence of an Overdiety. Even she was worried about what would happen if such a being discovered Eternatus’s efforts and took their side. Then, any resisting the CTO would become absolutely pointless. There would be no use resisting an Overdiety, even by the strongest mortals and possibly even by lesser gods.

Ultimately, Annika reluctantly admitted that for the time being, she had no real plan. The three prisoners had to hope that they would be rescued at some point. However, they had no idea if there was anyone in the vicinity of Shawlia left fighting against the CTO. They could only hope that the loss of the battle for the city was not the end of local resistance to the CTO. If it had been, then the three prisoners would be even more likely to sit rotting in their cells for the foreseeable future.

Six days passed after Annika’s meeting with Eternatus. The three prisoners were fed three basic meals a day by their captors. However, they had very little contact with anyone else, other than a few guards, over that period of time.

That morning, at least what the prisoners thought was morning, the prisoners saw the door leading into their cell block opening. This time, a pair of Crusader Hitmonlee came inside with the usual Raboot guard. The Hitmonlee were each carrying a length of chain. The Raboot opened up both of the prisoners’ cells with his keys and ordered them, “Get into a single file line.”

Annika took up the first position, with Alyssa behind her and Nia bringing up the rear. The Hitmonlee got to work chaining Annika’s cuffs to Alyssa’s and then Alyssa’s cuffs to Nia’s collar.

Once the three captives were all chained together in a line with some space in between them, Alyssa asked, “Where are you going to take us?”

One of the Hitmonlee somehow responded, “The Prophet Eternatus has ordered that you are be taken to witness today’s public execution. You are not the condemned. That is all that you are to be told for now.”

Annika wondered who it was who the CTO had in their custody that they were going to terminate. She also realized that Eternatus had actually taken her earlier advice to heart. At the same time, she could not help but be relieved that she, Alyssa and Nia were not the ones who were going to be put to death.

The two Hitmonlee crusaders led the three prisoners out of their cell block. On the way out of the prison the small procession was joined by a pair of Boldore Crusaders who followed behind Nia. When the seven Pokémon exited the prison, Annika had to squint at first due to the bright sun. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw that two more guards had joined the procession. These odd creatures seemed to each be made up six small bipedal segments each wearing military helmets. It seemed like each segment was kind of its own creature. However, they stuck together in a very tight formation.

Alyssa quietly told Annika and Nia, “Those are two Falinks. They are rare artificial Pokémon created by humans to serve as soldiers. I do not know how the CTO got control over these two.”

The six CTO guards marched their prisoners through the seemingly deserted city streets towards the central plaza. Annika remembered from her touring Shawlia earlier that there was a small arena located just south of the city’s central plaza. That sounded like as good a place as any to hold a public execution.

The procession closed in on a narrow alley as it made its way through the city. There were buildings on both sides of the alley that looked to have been abandoned by whoever had lived in them before, or while, the city had been invaded.

As the procession advanced through the alley, Annika started to hear some creaking noises. She then thought she heard the sound of energy of some kind charging up. The guards stopped for a moment, seemingly having heard something as well.

A ground-level wooden door flew open to Annika’s left and a barrage of energy razors flew out and arced into all six guards. Annika shouted, “Hit the deck!”

As Annika, Alyssa and Nia threw themselves to the ground, a Boldore guard shouted, “It’s an ambush!”

Marcy threw herself through the door the razors of energy had come out of and was followed by Lawrence who blasted the closer Falinks with a column of lighting to the leader.

On the same side of the alley, Ty charged out and headbutted a Hitmonlee hard. From the other side of the alley, Lilac emerged and used a leafy sword to drop one of the two Boldore from behind. Jenny flew down from a second-story window and used a high-speed punch right between the eyes to knock out the other Boldore.

Finally, Riccardo burst through a door and shouted, “We’re here, Nia!” He then tossed in an orb of electricity to knock out the Falinks who Lawrence had injured.

The three guards who still stood were clearly panicked and confused. The surviving Falinks took up a new formation as one of the Hitmonlee kicked Marcy in the gut. The other Hitmonlee attacked Lilac with a flurry of strikes. She looked badly injured. However, she was still in the fight while her foe was exhausted by his own flurry of repeated attacks.

Marcy quickly Mega-Evolved and then finished the Hitmonlee she was fighting with a psychic slash from her head scythe. Ty struck the Falinks leader with a mighty blow from his skull, knocking them back into their other five segments and taking them all out of the battle.

Lawrence, Jenny and Riccardo combined their attacks to take out the final Hitmonlee before he could try to flee the scene.

Annika did her best to stand up, still mentally processing what had just happened.

As Lawrence walked over to Alyssa and Riccardo walked over to Nia, Annika asked Marcy, “How did you know where to find us?”

Marcy’s Mega-Evolution wore off as she explained, “Captain Zoltar has been leading a resistance against the CTO occupation. When his informants leaked it out that there was to be a public execution today, he planned a surprise raid to try and put a stop to it. We were asked to raid the prison to rescue any captives being held there while his team attacked the arena near the central plaza. However, Lilac and Jenny discovered via scouting that you three were not only alive, but being led towards the arena. Considering rescuing you to be a higher priority than anything else, we set up this ambush to rescue you three.”

As soon as Marcy finished her statement, she charged her head scythe with psychic energy again and sliced into the central piece connecting Annika’s cuffs. The attack cut right into the crystal bit and overcharged it, causing it to rupture, releasing Annika’s energy back into her body. Annika was then able to freeze her cuffs, causing them to become very brittle and allowing her to break free. 

Annika then turned around, while shaking her arms out. She saw Lawrence and Riccardo using small bolts of electricity to overload the crystals in Alyssa and Nia’s restraints. Alyssa simply conjured the beginnings of an Aura Sphere between her hands to shatter her cuffs. She then walked over to Nia and ripped the collar off of her neck with relative ease.

Nia was embraced warmly by Riccardo. After the two of them shared a loving kiss, Nia turned to Marcy with Riccardo’s arms still around her neck. She then stammered, “You actually came back for us? I guess that Lady Annika and Miss Alyssa were not entirely wrong to trust you…”

Lawrence pointed out, “I had to convince Marcy to join the retreat after the two of us dispatched the initial wave of five crusaders with some difficulty. She wanted to go back for you, Annika. However, I convinced her that we would help you more by escaping alive. Thankfully, the SAL had cut a path through the enemy forces who had infiltrated the city through the western gate. We linked up with them and the other survivors who managed to escape the battle just outside the city. That Captain Zoltar is certainly something, seeing as though he was able to lead a few surviving fighters to escape the invasion, despite having been on the frontline of the losing battle for the southern gate.”

Annika pointed out, “I think that we need to focus on the task at hand. It sounds like Zoltar intends to stop the execution. Should we still try to raid the prison?”

Alyssa closed her eyes and then tensed her aura-sensing organs. She then opened her eyes and stammered, “I sense a massive mix of emotions at the arena. Zoltar’s resistance seems to be almost there. I also sense an extremely powerful aura at the center of the arena…I also sense two weakened auras I know right nearby that one. The first is the Machoke bandit leader we captured before… and the second is Eliza?”

Jenny admitted, “Eliza had to hold off some CTO pursuers during a raid we conducted two days ago. We thought she had been captured… but if she is there, they intend to put her to death!”

Annika added, “That powerful aura Aly sensed has to be Eternatus, the Prophet of the CTO! …Marcy, Lawrence, everyone else, I am sure you have a lot to fill us in on, but we also have a lot to tell you.”

Ty proclaimed, “I am sorry, but if Eliza is one of the prisoners about to be executed, then we have to go and help rescue her! If the prophet is there, then maybe we can defeat them and end this war, or at least put ourselves on the path to a final victory.”

Nia added, “Lady Annika has met Eternatus face to face. They are a Rogue Legendary Pokémon who wants Arceus dead! If our allies are about to face them in battle, they will need all the help that they can get and fast!”

Annika declared, “I hate to leave whoever else is being held in the dungeon, but we cannot let Eliza die!”

Marcy nodded and then said, “I will follow Annika’s orders as I have in the past. Alyssa, please lead the way to the arena with your Aura Sense. We need to hurry!”

Alyssa used one of her healing pulses on Lilac and then one on Marcy. She then led the way south towards the arena. The nine Pokémon did their best to move as fast as they could. There would likely be dozens of civilians and a significant number of crusaders at the arena. They would need to waste no time getting inside the structure and have to hope that they could link up with Zoltar’s resistance once inside.

Alyssa called out, as they saw the arena not far away, “Zoltar’s force is trying to fight their way in to the west of here, I think that we should try to use another entrance to open up a second front. There is a closer one just up ahead. …Also, you all should know that two other massively strong auras just entered my range. They are moving at extremely high speed and seem to be heading for the same place we are.”

Lilac sighed, “Oh great, another wrinkle in this whole mess.”

Annika told everyone around her, “We need to focus on getting inside the arena! We will sort everything out later.”

When Annika and the other eight adventurers reached the street leading to the entrance Alyssa had been directing them to, they saw at least ten crusader guards loyally guarding the way in to the arena. The enemies saw the incoming adventurers and began to advance.

As the two groups prepared to meet in combat, Annika admitted, “This will slow us down too much….”

Alyssa then called out, “One of those other auras is right on top of us practically! The other is closing in on Zoltar’s unit and their enemies…”

Suddenly, in a blur of energy, a blue quadrupedal canine leapt down from a nearby rooftop and landed in front of the nine adventurers. The creature was ornate and graceful in their appearance. The strangest thing about this new arrival was the ornate sword, large enough for a human to hold in two hands, gripped tightly in their jaws. In a howling female voice, despite the sword in her mouth, the canine warrior, exclaimed, “Die traitors!” She then barreled towards the crusader unit and her blade glowed with blue energy.

Annika told her comrades, “Don’t just stand there! Charge!” She was not sure what had just happened. However, she was not going to let the new arrival do all the work by herself.


	24. The Wolves of War

After having been rescued by Marcy, Lawrence and the SAL minus Eliza, Annika, Alyssa and Nia were charging down a street leading to the Shawlia City Arena with their allies. They were hoping to assist Zoltar and his resistance in stopping Eliza from being executed. They also wanted to defeat the Rogue Legendary Pokémon Eternatus, the leader of the Church of the Overdiety. However, things had been complicated by the sudden appearance of a quadrupedal canine female wielding an ornate sword in her jaws.

The mighty and majestic wolf gripped her sword and then made a direct charge towards the unit of ten crusaders blocking the entrance to the arena. Four enemies of varying species were sliced into by the warrior wolf’s blade. Their bodies overloaded with energy after being struck and exploded, leaving nary a trace of their original forms.

Alyssa exclaimed, “This has to be the Lady Zacian, the Demigoddess of War! But why is she here now?”

Annika replied, “We can find out why later! For now, let’s back her up!”

As the other six enemies recovered from their terror at seeing their comrades annihilated and moved to engage Zacian. The canine demigoddess evaded two attacks and withstood four others.

Annika and her allies continued their advance behind Zacian. Alyssa charged up an Aura Sphere and fired it into a Carkol Crusader, badly wounding him. He was finished soon after by Lawrence and Riccardo’s lightning strikes.

Annika saw a pair of airborne crusaders Lilac called Flapple diving past Zacian and towards her team. She blasted one of them from the sky with a pulse of frozen air. Nia took out the other one with one of her icy beams.

Ty and Lilac rushed towards another Carkol Crusader. However, Jenny reached him first and struck him with a flyby punch. Marcy Mega Evolved and continued her advance as well.

Two Marowak crusaders stood their ground in front of the gate. They held their bone clubs in defensive positions. Their Carkol ally seemed ready to retreat into the arena, assuming he was given an opening.

Zacian, moving faster than her foes could predict, delivered a mighty downward strike with her blade. The energized swing dropped one of the Marowak with little effort. The other Marowak raised her club to strike at Zacian, but she parried the swing with her sword almost effortlessly.

Alyssa’s next Aura Sphere felled the Carkol crusader before he could retreat. Nia then said, “Allow me, Lady Annika and Lady Zacian.” She dropped the Marowak with an icy dagger headshot, rendering the entrance to the arena undefended.

Zacian briefly turned to the CAS and SAL members and plainly asked them, “Do you also oppose the traitors?”

Alyssa shot her wife a quick look that seemed to say “trust me” and stepped forward and bowed to Zacian. She then replied, “Lady Zacian, if you mean the Church of the Overdiety then yes, we do. Do what do we owe the honor of your presence here?”

Zacian seemed to smile at Alyssa and told her, “We are allies in that case. As for my presence, my brother and I have stood idly by for too long, simply observing the course of world events. Now, this Eternatus threatens to end the worship of our master and creator Arceus and install themselves as the ruler of this world. We will not allow that to happen!”

Annika was admittedly not surprised that a Legendary Pokémon would state loyalty to Arceus as her reason for opposing Eternatus. That had to be why Zacian had called the CTO traitors. However, she successfully resisted her urge to roll her eyes. At least their mission had just gotten a lot easier thanks to the war demigoddess’s help.

Ty was staring in awe at Zacian as Riccardo said, “Lady Zacian, our friend Eliza is soon to be executed by the CTO. We need to hurry to save her!”

Zacian simply nodded and said, “Being put to death to death while helpless is no way to die. In we go!” She then bolted into the arena with the nine adventurers right behind her. As the ten Pokémon charged into the arena, Alyssa called out, “I sense that Zoltar’s team has just made in inside, they were helped by the other strong aura. I have no doubt that that has to be Lord Zamazenta, the Demigod of War.”

Marcy added, “We will have to explain why we did not raid the prison. However, Annika is my boss, not Zoltar. She is the one that I answer to.”

Annika smiled over at Marcy and told her, “I knew that you would be insistent on coming back for us if given the slightest opportunity. Now, let’s save Eliza and see if we can put a stop to Eternatus!”

When Zacian and the ten adventurers made it inside the massive arena stands, they saw a raised platform at the center of the sandy arena proper. On the platform were two bound and gagged prisoners. One of them was the Machoke bandit leader Annika and company had been responsible for capturing earlier. The other one was Eliza. Both of them were on their knees and had their wrists bound behind their backs in a folded position, presumably with draining cuffs. They were each wearing tight deep purple gags as well.

The civilian Pokémon sitting around the arena numbered at least one-hundred. It was possible that attendance was mandatory for this “event.” A ring of Crusader guards separated the arena from the stands and some crusaders patrolled the aisles of the stands.

Floating above the prisoners was Eternatus, who’s energy core was charging up with energy. They declared, “Megara, former leader of the Daedic Forest Bandits. You falsely claimed willingness to join the Crusader Force and repent your criminal ways, but tried to desert at the earliest opportunity you saw. Today, I carry out your death sentence!” Eternatus fired a gigantic beam of energy down from their core into Megara, who was disintegrated completely.

The bound and gagged Eliza looked over at her fellow captive’s remains, or in this case lack thereof, in shock and terror. However, she then saw the new arrivals into the stadium and looked slightly relieved.

Annika looked over and saw Zoltar leading a team of around fourteen watch and militia Pokémon down through the stands. In front of him was a bulky red and gold canine beast with a metallic shield-like mane.

Zacian called out to Annika and her fellow adventurers, “My brother Zamazenta has arrived and he seems to have gathered others behind him. You should go to rescue your friend. We will focus on dispatching the traitors!” 

With the resistance squad right behind him, Zamazenta charged his mane with energy and leapt into two Crusader Machop who tried to stand in his way. They both were knocked back and then exploded into near nothingness.

As the thirty or so crusader troops in the arena leapt into action to try and engage their advancing enemies, Nia said to Annika, “So, that is Eternatus? They really do look the part of a monster from the depths of space.”

Eternatus floated away from the helpless Eliza and then called out, “So, two children of Arceus have come to oppose the righteous mission of the church? You will pay for your service to the unworthy Arceus! You are serving an arrogant and prideful being who…”

Zamazenta cut Eternatus off by simply shouting, “TRAITOR!” At them at the top of his lungs. As the battle began to be joined, he leapt a massive distance over four crusaders and right over the defensive line protecting the arena proper. He then landed in front of Eliza on the wooden platform and started up at Eternatus with steely determination and burning hatred in his eyes.

Zoltar declared, “Citizens of Shawlia, we have come to do battle with the enemies currently occupying our fair city! Even two Legendary Pokémon have just appeared to stand with us against the infidels! Aid us against the enemy, or get to safety. Do not resist your own kin in this battle!”

While most of the civilians simply did their best to flee the stadium at least ten of them shouted somethings like, “For Arceus and for Shawlia!” They then began to join Zoltar’s forces in fighting the crusaders.

Zacian was still ahead of Annika and her fellow adventurers. They were all doing their best to reach the platform where Eliza was bound and kneeling. Annika and her comrades who had ranged attacks began to snipe at the incoming crusaders. Marcy and Ty both charged up energy within their bodies and Jenny flew up ahead to join the resistance flyers in engaging the airborne crusaders in the area. Lilac also charged ahead, hoping to get into the center of the action.

Zacian told Annika and her comrades, “Cover me if you can! I will get you through that line. The traitors will never know what hit them!”

Ty excitedly called out, “This will be truly awesome!” He and Lilac followed Zacian in to rapidly engage a trio of enemies trying to get in their way. Marcy fired off her energy razors in a number of directions, hitting at least five enemies and knocking out two of them. Her Mega Evolution then wore off.

Nia, Annika, Alyssa, Riccardo and Lawrence sniped at targets of opportunity around the battlefield while Zacian took and dodged most of the enemy’s attacks. They were rapidly closing in on the defensive ring as most of the civilians had now fled the arena. However, Crusader backup was starting to show up from the south. At least ten more enemies were inbound.

Zoltar and his squad charged into the defensive ring to keep some enemy attacks off of Zamazenta. Zoltar’s body sparked with lightning as he rammed into a Drizzile crusader and downed her in one strike. His three flyers and Jenny did their best to keep their ground troops covered against the few flying crusaders in the arena.

Zamazenta and Eternatus were now facing off as the resistance, Zacian and the adventurers were all closing in on the center of the arena. Eternatus charged up his energy core and screamed, “Arceus will pay for their arrogance! If you stand with them, then you will share in their fate!” This time, Zamazenta leapt up and took the full force of the gigantic energy beam. He then slammed into Eternatus with his body glowing brightly. The two Legendary Pokémon had each now survived an attack of the sort that could kill mortals and obliterate their remains in a single hit.

Like a bolt from the blue, Zacian charged up her sword and went screaming into the ring of crusaders trying to defend the sandy center of the arena. A couple of enemies in Zacian’s path were smart enough to move out of the way. However, a trio of crusaders held their ground and were explosively slain for their efforts. As Zacian moved to engage the enemies trying to counterattack her, Annika and Alyssa led their comrades in behind her.

While Zoltar’s resistance squad did battle with the Crusaders trying to engage them and stop them from aiding Zamazenta in his fight against Eternatus, Lilac, Ty and Marcy charged what was left of the defensive ring to aid Zacian in her fight.

Annika and Alyssa led their other allies into the fray. As Annika sliced into a Mienfoo crusader with a flurry of claw strikes, she called out, “Marcy, keep them off of us while we try to free Eliza!”

Marcy nodded and then used her psychic slash attack to drop the Mienfoo Annika had engaged.

Alyssa conjured up her bone staff and led Lawrence, Nia, Riccardo and Annika forward. Lawrence and Riccardo sent bolts of lightning down on a couple of enemies charging towards Marcy. However, Nia had another target in mind.

The Anetisian Princess conjured up an icy beam above her head and shouted, “You are the ones behind all of this chaos, Eternatus! Why don’t you suck on this!” She then launched the beam into Eternatus’s side. The attack caused a significant wound in the rogue legendary Pokémon’s spine.

As Lawrence remarked, “That was un-princess like Nia…Still, it was pretty awesome!” Alien blood dripped from the spot where Nia’s attack had hit home. It formed into crystals as it pooled on the ground.

Annika aimed a blast of freezing air at Eternatus’s head. However, they turned towards the oncoming adventurers, evading the attack. Eternatus seemed to glare and said, “So, the CAS does pose a threat to the church and its holy mission.” Eternatus then breathed a roaring blast of fire at Nia.

Nia took the blast of flame to the chest and was badly burnt. However, she was still standing.

Zamazenta called out, “Thanks for that opening! Your injuries will not be in vain!” He then leapt into the air again and bit down on Eternatus’s neck.

While Eternatus was injured by the chomp, they managed to break free of Zamazenta’s jaws, preventing the war wolf from dragging them to the ground with their sheer weight.

Annika now leapt onto the platform with Riccardo right behind her. Lawrence sent a barrage of needles into Eternatus. However, the projectiles had little effect on the alien dragon.

Alyssa jumped up onto the platform, bone staff still in hand. She then leapt into the air and managed to strike one of Eternatus’s “hands” with the staff as they were trying to regain altitude after Zamazenta’s vicious bite. She then began to fall back towards the ground, only having been able to get one strike in.

Eternatus scanned the area and saw that even though more crusaders were arriving, the present ones were now badly outmatched. They glared down at their enemies and called out to their followers, “I will rally our reinforcements and have them converge here! Retreat if you must, but fight if you can! Shawlia is still in the hands of the followers of the truth and will stay that way!”

Eternatus evaded a leaping full-body attack from Zamazenta and then an icy beam from Nia. They then turned around and rocketed south at an incredible speed.

Riccardo zapped the crystal in the central part of Eliza’s draining restraints. She then broke out of her damaged cuffs and tore off her gag. She smiled at Annika and Riccardo as Alyssa landed behind them.

Eliza stood up and said, “It seems that the CTO does not care much for criminals, even repentant ones. They wanted to make an example out of me and use my outlaw past to get the crowd on their side. Annika, Alyssa, Nia, we did not know what happened to you guys…”

Riccardo explained, “Marcy and Lawrence led the four of us to rescue them. We knew that they were too important to be kept in enemy hands for long.”

Alyssa pointed out, “We need to get out of here before too many more enemies show up!”

Zamazenta, who was standing right next to the three females and Riccardo nodded and told them, “Zacian and I will draw them off of you. We will relish the chance to punish these traitors, even though Eternatus has eluded us for now. You should return to your hideout, we will come and find you when we think the time is right.”

Annika nodded and said, “No use trying to argue here. Let’s regroup with Zoltar’s unit and fall back!”

Alyssa nodded and they all jumped off of the platform and began to head over to their comrades who were finishing off what had been the crusader defensive ring with Zacian’s help.

As Zacian and Zamazenta charged south to engage and occupy the crusaders trying to reach Zoltar’s squad and aid their few remaining allies, the adventurers teamed up to finish off their remaining foes in the area and then rushed towards Zoltar and his squad.

The Shawlian Captain saw pretty clearly what Zacian and Zamazenta were trying to do. He then called out to the adventurers, “I would call this mission a success. We dealt a nasty and humiliating blow to the CTO, made some new allies and rescued Eliza… even though I never thought she would prove to be such as valuable asset. However, that bizarre Pokémon who must have been the Prophet got away.”

Lilac pointed out, “Also, the enemy still has plenty of troops garrisoned to the south of here nearby the main gate and at the harbor. We will need to fall back now before they all converge on this arena.”

Jenny nodded and said, “Lead the way, Captain! We managed to rescue Annika, Alyssa and Nia, but decided coming to help you was more important than raiding the prison.”

Annika pointed out, as the Shawlians and the adventurers began to retreat from the arena, “It was my decision to come here after being rescued. I had met with Eternatus while I was a prisoner of the CTO and I knew roughly how powerful they are as a Legendary Pokémon. I knew that you would need all of the help you could get. Then of course, Zacian and Zamazenta showed up…”

Riccardo admitted, as the resistance force exited the arena with their new former civilian recruits, “The arrival of the War Demigods was fortuitous for us. I remember learning as a child that Zacian is the incarnation of offensive warfare while Zamazenta is the incarnation of defensive warfare. Since offense comes before defense in most cases, Zacian is even older than Zamazenta some say.”

Annika pointed out, “It sounded like those two are only fighting the CTO because they view the CTO as traitors to Arceus. Assuming that they escape the city, which seems likely given their power levels, we won’t know for sure when they will appear before us again.”

Alyssa added, “I was always told that Zacian and Zamazenta normally just observed and studied warfare, only very rarely appearing on the battlefield to actually aid one side or another. It does seem that open renunciation of Arceus on such a grand scale has moved them to action in this case. I had heard that they were often sighted on this continent before, so their appearance here makes some sense.”

Nia, who had received a healing pulse from Alyssa earlier, mentioned, “We will have to brief all of you on what Annika learned from Eternatus and then later told us on the way back. For now, I don’t know where we are going…”

Zoltar interjected, “I will explain once we are out of the city. Once we get out of the western gate, which we cleared of enemy guards before, we can exchange intelligence.”

Annika nodded back at Zoltar. The force of around thirty Pokémon escaped the city via the opened and unguarded western gate and then moved past some small farms and towards the coast. Annika knew that she would have plenty to tell her allies on the way back to whatever place the resistance was hiding out at.


	25. The Shawlian Resistance

As Zoltar lead his resistance fighters and their adventurer auxiliaries out of Shawlia, past a few farms and towards the coast, the group started to slow their pace down somewhat.

Alyssa closed her eyes and her aura-sensing organs tensed up again. She then smiled a bit and declared, “We are not being followed. Last time I sensed them, Zacian and Zamazenta were escaping the arena. Where they were heading, I could not determine.”

Annika nodded and replied, “Thanks for the update, Aly. I am just glad that we got away safely. It is certainly also nice to have my hands free again.”

Alyssa mentioned, “I was somewhat used to being bound from my time as a slave girl. Still, it is good to be free again and able to use my Aura Sense.”

Annika took her wife’s hand as they kept walking. She remembered that Alyssa had been purchased by the Hierophant Lucius on a foreign continent years ago. He had later freed her and she had served as his assistant for some time after that. Of course, in the end Lucius had been hiding his true murderous intentions from even Alyssa and it had been her who had dealt the final blow to her former master. Annika remembered that the CAS was the closest thing to a real family Alyssa had ever known. Like Annika, she had been an orphan.

As the group ventured into some thick forests not far from the beach with Zoltar at the head, Annika, Alyssa and Nia explained everything Annika had learned in her conversation with Eternatus in the Central Church of Arceus.

Zoltar and Riccardo both came to the conclusion that Eternatus had fashioned energized crystals from their shattered shell to make the crystal that allowed Harrison to grow to a colossal size and the crystals used in the draining restraints. Marcy also explained that she and the others had had to free a couple of prisoners from those kind of bonds before, which is how they had known how to free Annika, Alyssa and Nia safely from their cuffs and collar.

Zoltar also briefed the three newly rescued adventuresses on what else he knew. Regarding the city council, Zachary had been killed in action in the initial battle for the city, Scipio had been leading the evacuees fleeing Shawlia by sea and Alessandra had been captured by the CTO forces who had stormed the city hall. Reports were indicating that she had refused to formally surrender the city. However, Harrison had declared the city under the control of the CTO and had her taken away alive. It was unclear where she was currently being held. As for the evacuees, none of them had returned to the city with or without help over the last week. Overall, the evacuation had been a success in that all seven ships had gotten away and that many land-bound evacuees had also escaped the city’s fall successfully as well. 

As the procession made it deeper into the coastal forests, which featured trees with darker trunks and leaves than the Daedic Forests, Annika told everyone about how she had sent Sylvester away with orders to return to the Grand Island and gather an army to oppose the CTO there. It turned out that Zoltar already knew about that plan thanks to Marcy and Lawrence. He also said that he would welcome any foreign military aid at this point. Shawlia was now an occupied city and the CTO were doing all that they could to sway the remaining locals to join their church. From what the resistance knew, the CTO had converted many hundreds of Pokémon to the south already. While a blow had been dealt by the resistance that day, Eternatus still lived and the crusaders still held Shawlia.

As the procession continued on its way, Riccardo was staying close to Nia. Ty, who had spent quite some time as a professional mercenary was still excited about having met the demigods of war and fought alongside them, however briefly it had been for. Lilac and Jenny were chatting and Alyssa was occasionally scanning the area with her Aura Sense. Marcy and Lawrence were now walking right nearby Annika and Alyssa.

Lawrence gave Marcy a gentle nudge with one of his stubby arms and she seemed to remember something. The Absol cleared her throat and then told Annika and Alyssa, “There is one other thing you two should know. I have a feeling that Nia will not care much, considering how surprised she was that I was the coordinator of your rescue.”

Annika and Alyssa looked over at Marcy and Lawrence, as Marcy continued, “After Lawrence and I fled the docks, I told him that I would come back for you two as soon as the opportunity presented itself. He told me that he was fully aware and that he would be with me when I did. He also told me that he would be willing to face any challenge as long as I was by his side. He reminded me that he would never have become a professional adventurer without my recommending him to the rest of the CAS. He then asked me that if we got out of this whole mess and put the CTO down for good… then I would marry him.”

Lawrence then finally excitedly exclaimed, “And she said yes! I have been waiting for the two of you to hear ever since I proposed.”

As Marcy blushed, Annika chuckled and replied, “You two were always an odd couple. Stoic Marcy and energetic Lawrence. Still, you two did grow up in the same village and both suffered when it was destroyed. Honestly, I had been wondering when Lawrence would finally pop the question for quite some time.”

Marcy’s blush went down a bit as she explained, “I had decided soon after Lawrence and I got together that Sparks would be happy for me to be loved again. He was never the type to be too possessive.”

Alyssa nodded and pointed out, “Marcy, every day I have been around you since your rejoining the CAS, I have sensed guilt about your involvement with Lucius. Even though, like me, you did not know what his real plan was. You deserve to finally be happy for once. We will be present at your wedding, just like you were at ours, right Annika?”

Annika nodded happily as the procession got deeper and deeper into the woods. She also added, “We need to focus on the task at hand, though. As long as Eternatus lives, they will want to enact their plan of revenge on Arceus and innocents will continue to be caught up in the conflict. We have to find some way to bring the CTO to its knees as soon as possible.”

Lawrence mentioned, “It is pretty crazy, Arceus being confirmed as real and a Rogue Legendary Pokémon wanting them dead. Still, there was that one time Palkia appeared in Creekside. She did mention that she was hunting for Arceus. Still, that was kind of an ambiguous statement.”

Alyssa pointed out, “We are pretty deep into the forests now. I think I see some rock faces just up ahead.”

Soon, the procession reached a series of rock formations just off the beach to the west of Shawlia and north of the road leading west of the city. It was not very long until a series of hidden doors began to open and Zoltar explained, “The Shawlia City Watch has maintained these sea caves in case of an emergency like the one we are currently in. They have made a good headquarters for our resistance. However, the problem is that quite a few watch officers knew about them. If anyone in the know cracks under enemy interrogation, then we would be found here. Still, this position is pretty defensible. We will have to find rooms for the new recruits and the three adventurers that were rescued today by the time night fully falls.”

Everyone made their way into a surprisingly well-maintained and dry series of caves. The caves were well-lit by torches. There were a few Shawlians working maintenance and supply duty that were not active-duty combatants in the cave network. Alyssa told her wife that she would go to try and find them a room while Annika checked in with whoever she needed to check in with. Annika had mentioned wanting to talk with Nia briefly. The young couple parted ways and Annika was directed to Riccardo’s room by Jenny. Annika had a feeling that Nia had a good chance of being there with him.

When Annika reached the room Riccardo was staying in, she found him sitting alone deep in thought. Nia was not there at the moment. Annika asked Riccardo, as he stood up, “Do you know where Nia is?”

Riccardo responded, “She went to talk with Eliza and see how she is holding up. …Annika, I have to ask you something… why did you lie to me about your past soon after we met?”

Annika was taken aback. It seemed as though Riccardo was now aware of her former humanity.

Before Annika could reply, Riccardo continued, “Nia told me the truth on the way back here. We have become very close, you see. So close in fact, that I desire to meet with her mother, Queen Mona, in Anetisia, as cold as it must be there, and convince her to allow me to become Nia’s Royal Consort. Stopping Eternatus and their madness comes first, of course. Regarding my initial question, I have quite an interest in humans. Since you were once one, I would have loved to have learned some things from you about them.”

Annika sighed, realizing now just how serious Nia and Riccardo’s “fling” really was. She looked Riccardo in the eyes and told him, “I lied because I do not like to dwell on my past. I was raised by cruel and callous people in a world very different from this one. When Palkia sent me here, reincarnated me and then allowed me to stay here, I was given the biggest gift anyone has ever given me. Here, I have friends, respect and a beautiful wife. There, I had nothing but disdain and misery. I am sorry that I was untruthful with you. Please know that I did not lie to you for any personal reason. If I had had my way, only my closest confidants would know the truth about who I used to be. However, all of Creekside learned the truth soon after we stopped Lucius and the AML at Mount Flattop.”

Riccardo simply sighed a bit and nodded back at Annika. He then smiled slightly and admitted, “Nia told me that you were not ill intentioned. I need to keep remembering to trust her. She is a brave and beautiful girl to be sure. I have never met anyone like her. Regardless, I am glad to have you, Alyssa and Nia back with us. I was certainly worried sick for Nia while you all were being held captive. However, Marcy was feeling practically the same way about you.”

Annika nodded back at Riccardo and then told him, “I am sorry about my dishonesty again. I should know that honesty is the best policy after something else that happened to me on the way to Shawlia from Creekside. I will take my leave of you now. Tell Nia that I forgive her when you see her.”

Riccardo nodded and then he and Annika exchanged salutes. Annika then made her way back to the center of the cave network, where she found Alyssa waiting for her.

Annika walked over to her wife and told her, “Nia told Riccardo about my past. I don’t think he is going to spread it around. Thankfully, I was able to explain myself to him to his satisfaction for the moment. Have you found us a room?”

Alyssa nodded and then motioned for Annika to follow her. Annika followed her wife down a tunnel to a sandy nook of a room with a supply crate and a bed being its only furnishings.

Alyssa told Annika, “It is nothing compared to our hotel from earlier. However, it is quite private.”

Annika just nodded and then yawned a bit while stretching out her arms. She replied, “I will do just fine, Aly. Good work as always.”

Without further ado, Annika flung herself into Alyssa’s arms and then two of them began to kiss. Thanks to Nia being in the cell across from theirs, they had not been truly alone in some time. In a way, they had some catching up to do and there was no time like the present.


	26. Attacking the Caravan

The next morning, Annika and Alyssa woke up after having slept in later than usual. They soon got up and went to go eat breakfast in one of the common areas of the cave network. Annika and Alyssa had to eat smaller than usual breakfasts on account of the resistance’s cavernous base having limited stores of edible food.

Annika mentioned to her wife and other CAS comrades over breakfast that she was unsure of what their long-term strategy was going to be at this point. For the time being, they were in the same boat as the Shawlian Resistance and the SAL. It seemed that even if Zacian and Zamazenta joined in the fight, their forces were not currently strong enough to liberate Shawlia outright.

The question that Annika posed was: would the five CAS members stay and help the Shawlians fight as best as they could and hope for reinforcements from the Grand Island, or really anywhere, to arrive? Conversely, would they leave the cavernous hideout and make their way to another port city? From there, they could attempt to board a ship heading for the Grand Island and try to make their way back home to Creekside. Annika said that even if the remaining five CAS members on the Adalsian Continent left the fight for Shawlia, they would try to gather forces on their home island and return to counterattack and hopefully defeat the CTO.

As for how the CAS members felt about the situation, Alyssa expressed a desire to not abandon Zoltar’s forces and the SAL. Lawrence seemed optimistic about the possibility of allied reinforcements arriving at some point in the near future and wanted the CAS to be present when they showed up. Nia did not want to leave Riccardo and the rest of the SAL. Marcy simply said that she would loyally follow whatever orders Annika gave the away team.

Annika decided that the CAS Away Team would stay with the Shawlian Resistance for the time being and help them fight. However, depending on how long the conflict dragged on, there was a chance that she would give the order for the team to return home and try to return with an army of their own. Annika made it clear that she had no intention of fleeing the conflict all together. She knew well that Eternatus would conquer the whole of the world if they could in order to see their goals through.

That afternoon, Annika learned that both the five SAL members and her away team had been asked to meet with Zoltar. They were to report to the space that had become his “command room” as soon as possible.

When the ten adventurers gathered in the command room, they saw a map of the vicinity on the floor, along with Zoltar, a watch Yamper and a watch Cramorant.

Zoltar looked over the adventurers and then down at the map. He then explained, “We have just been handed a piece of intelligence by an informant still in the city who has risked imprisonment and possible execution by getting us this message. Apparently, the CTO is going to send a guarded caravan of carts south from Shawlia on the main road this evening. They moved this operation up to this evening from a later date, thanks to yesterday’s raid.”

Annika asked, “I take it that someone, or something, valuable is being transported in this caravan?”

Zoltar nodded and elaborated, “We believe that City Council Member Alessandra, who was being held prisoner in the city hall, is going to be transported south in this caravan. That will be along with various valuables looted by the enemy army when they seized Shawlia. As much as I have mistrusted Eliza in the past, I have learned to trust the good intentions of her team. Also, of course, your CAS team would not have shown up in this city without their asking for your assistance and advice. I think that your teams are less likely to incur major casualties then my fighters if you attempt to intercept the caravan. I would like you to depart for the main road as soon as possible so that you can get there by dusk. When you encounter the caravan, take down all of the guards and then free the council member. My forces will do our best to form a perimeter to stop any enemies from escaping the battle and trying to get help. Would you accept this mission?”

Eliza and her team all nodded yes immediately after Zoltar finished his statement. Annika thought for a moment and then asked, “Do we know why the CTO is trying to move Alessandra and their loot south away from Shawlia?”

Zoltar responded, “My best guess is that they want to keep Alessandra somewhere where she will have the minimal possible influence on her fellow Shawlians still living in the occupied city. As for the loot, they will likely want to add it to a treasury somewhere else in their controlled territory. They may want to more effectively distribute they more usable items they looted to their forces as well.”

Annika nodded, feeling satisfied with the answer she had been given. In her mind, she knew that there was a chance that this could be a trap. However, it seemed like Zoltar trusted the informant who had smuggled the information regarding the caravan to him. She told Zoltar, “We will help you to rescue Alessandra and recover what was stolen from Shawlia. We certainly expect your fighters to be ready to prevent the enemy from escaping if need be, however.”

Zoltar nodded sharply to Annika and then said, “Since we are all in agreement, we will set off as soon as everyone is packed.”

It took less than an hour from the end of the briefing for the ten adventurers, along with Zoltar and six of his best fighters, to set off from the coastal cave network and make a beeline for the main road. Thankfully, their group was large enough to convince any wild Pokémon who remained in the Daedic Forests after the Battle of Shawlia to leave them alone.

The sky was darkening by the time that they reached the main road leading south from Shawlia. Alyssa routinely scanned the vicinity with her Aura Sense as they headed south. She determined that unless the caravan had already gotten away, it was not at their position yet. She also noted that there did not seem to be any CTO air patrols in the skies at the moment.

As the seventeen Pokémon kept heading north, Alyssa focused herself and announced, “I sense a collection of auras heading our way. …One of them seems weaker than usual. There are fifteen others. None of them seem to be airborne. That could be due to the reduced visibility air scouts would have at night and with the tree canopy on both sides of the road factored in.”

Zoltar nodded sharply and then told three of his subordinates to head a bit farther south with him. They were to make sure to engage any enemies that got past the adventurers and tried to reach the occupied Hilltop Shrine. The other three resistance fighters would stealthily head south and do their best to prevent any enemies trying to escape back to Shawlia from doing so.

After the seven resistance fighters left, Eliza and her team took up positions on the eastern side of the main road. Annika’s team took up positions on the western side of the main road.

While Annika and her comrades were hiding in the foliage, Alyssa mentioned, “I think I have sensed one of these auras before. It’s that Thwackey Lieutenant from our first encounter with the CTO, Augustine. He must have survived his injuries and returned to active duty.”

Annika replied, “In that case, we will deal with him for good this time.”

It was not very long, as the sky got darker, until a small caravan consisting of only three wagons trundled into view. All three wagons were drawn by crusader Mudsdale. Each wagon seemed to have four other crusaders guarding it with two walking on each side. The CTO was not taking any chances it seemed. Sure enough, the Thwackey Lieutenant Augustine was walking beside the lead wagon as one of its guards. As for the wagons themselves, the first one seemed to be covered by large sacks, which Annika assumed held money and other valuable objects. The second wagon was covered by a long metal box which Annika bet contained the captive Alessandra. The third and final wagon was transporting two large supply crates. Annika could not see what was inside on those crates.

Annika quietly told her comrades to wait until the caravan was right next to them. She hoped that Eliza would be smart enough to wait for her more experienced team to go first before they would engage the enemy.

When the first of the three Mudsdale was almost to where Annika was crouching and hiding, Annika began to freeze the air between her clawed hands. She then stood up and launched the blast into the crusader. The Mudsdale was downed in one well-aimed headshot. He slumped forward in his harness and fell unconscious.

Augustine shouted, “We’re being ambushed! Defend the wagons!”

The crusader guards did their best to prepare for action as Eliza’s team leapt up and began their attack on the guards on their side of the wagons. Lilac hacked into the lower legs of the second Mudsdale with a leafy sword extended from one of her arms. Ty then rammed himself right into the equine’s side, downing her with a headbutt to the gut.

Marcy Mega Evolved and then rushed into action with Lawrence and Alyssa right behind her. Nia took aim at Augustine and nailed him with an icy dagger to the chest. He was badly injured. However, he was still in the fight.

Two crusader Hitmonchan on each side of the wagons rushed in to engage Annika’s allies, getting some solid hits in. However, Marcy took one of them down quickly with a psychic slash to the shoulder.

Jenny flew at the final Mudsdale and delivered a punch to his face. However, he was still actively in the fight.

After Augustine pelted Marcy with leafy daggers, he was charged by Annika who dramatically shouted, “This is the end of you!”

Annika was too fast for the crusader Lieutenant, she hacked into his face with her claws right after they were charged with black light. Augustine collapsed to the ground. This time Annika, did not think he would get back up.

Alyssa knocked out the final Mudsdale with an Aura Sphere, trapping all three of the wagons in the middle of the ambush. It seemed that while this crusader unit was decently strong, they had not been meant to draw the resistance into a trap.

Eliza and her team were taking some hits, but striking back hard as a Hitmonchan and two Araquanid enemies were felled by their combined efforts.

Nia nailed an enemy Hitmonchan who was rushing towards Annika with an icy beam, allowing Lawrence to counter-charge him and knock him out with a point-blank blast of electricity.

Alyssa saw a pair of hostile Midnight Lycanroc charging towards her. She conjured up her bone staff and nailed one of the enemies in the face with it. However, the crusader still stood and snarled back at her.

Annika bravely rushed in to help her wife as Alyssa dueled one of their canine foes. She slashed a the other Lycanroc across the face with metallic claws and then dodged a chomping counterattack.

As Marcy faced off against an enemy Dewpider, Lawrence sent a lightning bolt crashing down on the Lycanroc Alyssa was fighting, giving her the opening she needed to strike her foe repeatedly until he collapsed from his injuries.

Annika took a rock to the chest from the Lycanroc she was fighting and staggered back. However, she jumped back into the fray and dropped her target with a second slash from her claws, which once again took on a metallic sheen.

Marcy quickly downed the enemy Dewpider she had been dueling with a single hack from her head scythe. She then ran over to aid Eliza’s team.

Eliza had managed to dodged multiple rapid punches from the remaining enemy Hitmonchan. She then delivered a devasting counterattack with her claws, hacking into the enemy’s gut and downing him.

Riccardo and Jenny were providing ranged support as Lilac kept an enemy Dewpider off of them. Ty was fighting one last Lycanroc, who had orange fur, something that Annika had not yet seen.

Finally, as Annika’s team was on their way to provide support, Riccardo dropped the Dewpider with a orb of lightning. This allowed Lilac to attack the last enemy standing, the orange-furred Lycanroc, dropping her with a leafy blade to the back to the neck.

As Ty mentioned, “So much for the perimeter being necessary…” Lilac began to glow brightly across her whole body. She soon evolved from Grovyle to Sceptile.

Lilac smiled and exclaimed, “When I see my family again, this final evolution will be the first thing I show them!”

Jenny added, “I am just relieved that both of our families evacuated by sea, Lilac. Eliza, Annika, what do we do now?”

Lawrence was already working with Riccardo to get the barred door they found at the rear of the long metal box open. As Annika remembered how important it had truly been that they had defended the evacuation of Shawlia successfully, even if it had gotten her, Alyssa and Nia captured, Alyssa said, “I thankfully do not sense any enemies incoming for now. Let’s loot what we can, free Alessandra and then get back to Captain Zoltar and our other allies.”

Annika began to direct Nia and Marcy to go check on the supply crates and Lilac, Ty and Eliza began to gather the sacks on the first wagon. They were also able to confirm that they indeed held money looted from the city. Much of it had most likely been obtained from the homes and businesses of evacuees who had left it behind. 

Soon, the metal box was open and out slithered the Dragonair Alessandra. She was wearing a draining collar, which Riccardo and Lawrence soon got to work removing from her neck.

While Alessandra thanked her rescuers profusely and was being briefed on the situation regarding Zoltar and his resistance, Marcy called over to Annika from atop the third wagon, “We found some Mega Stones in one of the crates! We also found some evolution stones and other potentially useful items.”

Annika called back, “We will grab everything we can and get it all back to cave hideout! Aly, you should check to see if your Mega Stone is in the pile.”

Alyssa walked over to the wagon with the supply crates as Alessandra was freed from her draining collar and the others were busy recovering as much loot as they could. Lilac also walked over to check out the Mega Stones.

It was not long until Lilac held a Mega Stone in her hands and said, “This one seems to be calling to me. I’m taking it!”

Alyssa also soon withdrew a Mega Stone and admitted, “This was the only Lucario stone I could find. I hope that this is mine, but it will work either way. Annika, I know that you would want me to have your present with me again.”

Annika smiled and nodded and then got to work packing some loot into her pack. It was not long until the ten adventurers briefly split up and went to go collect Zoltar and his six subordinates. After they all returned to the wagons, Alessandra and Zoltar seemed pleased to see each other again. The freed city council member announced that she would keep Zoltar in command of the resistance and do her best to aid the underground movement in whatever ways she could.

The eighteen Pokémon decided not to burn the CTO wagons out of fear of starting a forest fire. They then made their way back through the forests to their cavernous hideout while night fell. They returned at around midnight and then everyone was able to get some much-needed rest. Annika was pleased that not only did Alyssa have a Mega Stone in her possession again, but they had done some damage to the CTO and eliminated one of their officers, albeit one of relatively low rank. She fell asleep in Alyssa’s arms wondering what sort of mission they would be called upon to carry out next.


	27. The Pincer Counterattack

Two days passed after the rescue of Alessandra from the CTO caravan. In that relatively short time, Zoltar had briefed his adventurer allies on two important developments that his informants had been able to smuggle out to his agents. For one, he was now able to confirm that the Legendary War Wolves Zacian and Zamazenta had escaped Shawlia earlier. The crusaders in the city had been reinforcing the city walls and gates in preparation for another resistance raid, or another attack by the pair of war demigods. The second development was that the Prophet Eternatus, the supreme leader of the CTO, had been seen flying south from Shawlia the day after the caravan attack along with a small squad of airborne crusaders. It was believed that they were returning to their base of operations atop Mount Galtia.

It was starting to look like the CTO, despite having sustained some significant losses, was going to hold onto Shawlia for the time being. They seemed to be beefing up their presence in the city. That was true even though it was believed that Commander Harrison and Overseer Beck had returned to Mount Galtia soon before the raid that had saved Eliza’s life and led to Annika, Alyssa and Nia being freed. It was now unclear what the resistance’s next move was going to be. No help from any foreign settlement had yet arrived. Plenty of Shawlians had escaped the losing battle over a week ago. However, none of them had returned home with help, or even by themselves. It now looked like Shawlia had been cut off from the rest of the world, except for the region to the south that was also occupied by the CTO.

The morning two days after the rescue of Alessandra, the five CAS Away Team members were eating breakfast in one of the common areas of the cave network hideout. Annika eyed her comrades, wondering if it would make sense for them to keep waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Maybe the away team should make an effort to return home and then gather help themselves. The reputation of the CAS carried real weight back on the Grand Island. Maybe Sylvester by himself, or even the entire CAS Home Team, could not rally an army. However, maybe if Annika, the Society Head of the CAS, put out the call, brave souls would answer it in droves?

As Annika and company were finishing up eating breakfast, Alyssa’s aura-sensing organs tensed up and she gasped. She immediately looked over at Annika and said, “I just picked up around forty auras at the very edge of my range! I recognize one of them as the Shadower Azura. They are heading in this direction right now!”

Annika leapt up and replied, “We have to alert Captain Zoltar in that case! The CTO must have discovered our location!”

As Annika’s team scrambled to prepare themselves for battle, a Cramorant air scout flew through the common area towards the command room. He shouted, “A hostile ship loaded with catapults is on its way here from Shawlia Harbor!”

Annika thought quickly as Lawrence mentioned, “They might have finished construction on a ship being built in the harbor’s dry dock when they occupied Shawlia?”

Annika added, “This is a pincer attack, and I don’t mean the insect like species. The warship will probably try to collapse the sea caves on us with its catapults while Azura’s squad waits to catch us outside.”

Alyssa nodded and then Zoltar came rushing into the common area. Alyssa rapidly informed him about the incoming CTO unit. Zoltar growled angrily and responded, “We will have to abandon this position. We will gather everyone and as much of our supplies as we can and face the enemy in battle if need be. I don’t know where we will escape to, but we will have to get out of here before the CTO warship brings these caves down on our heads!”

The roughly forty Pokémon living in the cave network, including the ten adventurers, Zoltar, Alessandra, assorted watch and militia members turned resistance fighters and a few non-combatant personnel gathered up all of the supplies that they could and prepared to exit the caves into the clearing just to the south of them. However, by the time that everyone was ready, the sound of catapult boulders crashing into the southern portions of the cave network could be heard and the ground shook from the impacts. To make things worse, Alyssa reported that Azura and her recon unit were closing in on the hidden entrances as fast as they could.

With Zoltar and the adventurers in the lead and Alessandra and the support personnel at the rear, the Shawlian Resistance opened the hidden doors leading to the cave network hideout as more and more of it collapsed from the enemy’s naval bombardment.

As they advanced out of the caves, they saw a significant number of CTO soldiers led by the Shadower Azura moving in on their position down the main path and through the woods.

Azura saw her enemies leaving their collapsing base and called out, “You have walked right into us, you fools! The Prophet Eternatus will be pleased when your band is finally crushed. You will not escape this time! We have patrols on all the major roads leading away from Shawlia. No one has come to save you, worshippers of the unworthy Arceus!”

Zoltar shot back, “We knew that you were coming, infidel scum! Your army may hold Shawlia still, but it is you who will not survive this day!”

Annika quickly realized that Azura had a Dynamax Crystal on a long chain necklace around her neck. Thankfully, there did not seem to be enough room for her to Dynamax at the moment without crushing quite a few of her allies in the process. Annika called out, as the two forces readied for a fight and Alyssa, Lilac and Marcy Mega-Evolved, “Focus on taking down as many of them as you can! Our numbers are pretty evenly matched this time! Aly, I am going for Azura, you with me?”

Alyssa nodded and confidently replied, “As always, my love!”

Zoltar charged forward towards a Drizzile enemy, Nia took aim at the Turtonator enemy from the docks assault, who was a part of Azura’s force, as the two squads rushed forward to meet each other in battle.

Marcy called out to Annika and Alyssa, “Lawrence and I will cover you two!” She began to charge up her energy razors and bounded into the fight as Lawrence followed right behind her.

With the SAL members advancing on the other side of Zoltar, Annika and Alyssa rushed right for Azura. They wanted to decapitate the CTO command structure as quickly as they could. They would not lose to the Inteleon this time.

With ranged attacks flying everywhere, Annika followed Alyssa towards Azura. The Inteleon CTO officer stood her ground as her soldiers met Zoltar’s in battle. She took aim at Alyssa and blasted her with a thin beam of water from one of fingers. Alyssa was unable to evade the shot. However, she did not let the attack slow her down much.

Annika saw a trio of enemy Phantump moving to position themselves in her and Alyssa’s way. Knowing that Marcy’s energy razors would not harm these enemies, Annika leapt up and sliced into the first of them, her claws bursting with black light.

The Phantump dropped after Annika tore into his body. Annika shouted to her wife, “I will keep these guys off of you, Aly!”

Alyssa nodded and then launched an Aura Sphere at Azura. The Inteleon tried to dodge the ball of light. However, it still slammed right into her, staggering her quite a bit.

As Annika evaded a branch attack from one Phantump and withstood another, Nia and the Turtonator exchanged distance attacks. Nia was forced to rely on her greater speed to dodge blasts of fire as she fired icy beams into her foe.

Then, Annika saw that Marcy and Lawrence had reached the rough center of the battle in the clearing right next to Zoltar. Marcy discharged her energy razors, sending them all arcing into a number of the gathered CTO Pokémon. At least six enemies dropped from the swarm of homing projectiles and double that number were injured.

Lawrence helped Annika out by bombarding one of the Phantump with barbs until she fainted from the barrage. Now, there was only one of those foes left.

Annika charged up her claws with dark energy and leapt at her foe as he began to float backwards. The enemy was not fast enough in reverse to escape Annika’s diving attack. Her claws tore into his black body and the energy they emitted was too much for him to withstand. He dropped in a single hit from Annika’s claws as one of his comrades had before.

Now, Alyssa was closing on Azura. Zoltar’s resistance fighters were holding their own reasonably well. However, the enemy still had over half of their initial force standing and able to fight.

Azura told Alyssa, “I take it that you won’t surrender this time, Alyssa. You and your allies, strong as you are, cannot be allowed to threaten the plans of the Prophet Eternatus any longer!” She then nailed Alyssa in the chest with a point-blank blast of pressurized water.

Alyssa was looking faint now. However, she channeled one of her healing pulses into herself as she was now practically in melee range with Azura.

Annika saw an enemy Gogoat rushing at Alyssa to try and protect Azura. She conjured a blast of frozen air between her claws and sent it right into the enemy’s stomach. The foe was slowed down just enough that Marcy could get right up in front of him and take him down with a dramatic leaping slash from her head scythe brought down on his back.

Lawrence shouted, “I’ve got your back Alyssa!” He then called down an impressive bolt of lightning onto Azura. The Inteleon was able to dodge some of the strike. However, she still looked singed and badly wounded after the attack.

Annika charged in to try and help her wife finish the enemy commander off. An enemy Hatenna had the misfortune to rush in and try to block Annika’s advance. She was quickly dispatched by Annika’s claws and the black light that they emitted upon impact.

Suddenly Alyssa looked back at her allies and grinned. She told Azura, “Your pincer attack was well-planned, but it is about to lead to a route for your forces!”

Azura actually looked confused and shot back, “We have destroyed your base and still hold Shawlia! We can always retreat and come back with a larger force. What do you mean by…”

Two baleful howls could be heard not far off. They were coming in from behind the CTO forces. Alyssa grinned and then, after withstanding a larger blast of high-pressure water from Azura leapt forward and struck the Shadower’s face with her open palm, channeling energy into her foe before she could move her head away.

Azura collapsed to the ground, clutching her wounds. She was alive, but not long for this world at this rate.

Zoltar called out, “The enemy commander is down! Finish off the remaining enemies so that we can escape the area!” The resistance fighters, aided by the SAL, surged forward, protecting their support staff along the way. Nia was also able to drop the enemy Turtonator with one more icy beam.

As the CTO recon unit began to lose discipline and their formation began to break up, Azura laughed on the ground and told Annika and Alyssa, “You may win this battle and take my life, but the Prophet has the power to make all of your gains a moot point. They will avenge us and all the other faithful who have fallen. Their holy plan will see the false faiths brought low and then wiped from existence. You have no idea what they are capable of…” Azura then passed away, her eyes closed and her breath ceased. Her final act had been to gloat to the foes who had managed to strike her and many of her comrades down.

As the CTO forces began to make a fighting retreat, the main path was blocked by the sudden and dramatic arrival of Zacian who brandished her sword and charged in to flank the, now mortified, CTO soldiers.

As Zacian’s blade claimed the lives of four fleeing CTO recon soldiers in one mighty, explosive, blow, Zamazenta charged in to the clearing from the west. He then began to aid the SAL and Zoltar in dealing with the remaining few enemies not trying to flee the scene already.

Alyssa and Marcy’s Mega Evolutions began to wear off. Marcy began to charge up another series of energy razors while Lawrence kept her covered.

Annika fired a blast of frozen air into a retreating enemy Skiddo trying to escape through the woods, downing her in one shot. She continued to hear loud thudding noises behind her as the CTO warship continued to fling catapult boulders at the cave network to reduce it completely to rubble. It was unlikely that the crew of the ship knew of the defeat that their allies had faced on land. They were probably not firing on the battlefield due to the possibility of friendly fire.

Zoltar lead his fighters in one final advance towards the few enemies still standing. The CTO formation was now completely demolished. Marcy discharged her energy razors on the hapless enemies once again. That thinned their numbers to less than six.

The last few CTO soldiers did not surrender to the Shawlia Resistance and their allies. Annika had a feeling that these fanatics would view surrendering to those they perceived to be worshippers of Arceus as beneath them. After all, they saw themselves as servants of the true religion. Therefore, they would be greatly dishonored if they gave up in the face of enemies who followed an unworthy god.

Zacian and Zamazenta wasted no time and showed no remorse in eliminating the last few enemies with the help of the SAL and the Shawlian resistance. Soon after the battle was won, Zoltar did his best to regroup his forces and take stock of the casualties that they had incurred. They would have to drag any of their fighters who had fallen unconscious, but had not perished, with them wherever they were headed next.

Alyssa closed her eyes as the five CAS Pokémon regrouped and then announced, “We have certainly wiped out this enemy unit. I sense no other approaching hostiles in my range, other than the warship. We should get moving in case the enemy crew realizes that we won and still has ammunition ready to fire on us with.”

Annika nodded and then turned around to see Zacian and Zamazenta standing not far from the five adventurers. Zamazenta said, “So, the ones who defeated the would be usurper Lucius are here in this fight as well.”

Annika was not sure what to say. She did not want to offend the Legendary Pokémon. However, she also wanted to be truthful with them. She then looked down and saw the crystal still around Azura’s neck. 

As Annika walked over to Azura’s body to claim the crystal, Alyssa replied, “With all due respect, My Lord and Lady. Our being here is a coincidence. We are not some proud defenders of the current order. We are just trying to do what is right and protect the innocent.”

As Annika broke the Dynamax Crystal off of the necklace holding it and held it in one of her clawed hands, she could easily feel how much power it held. Zacian then replied to Alyssa, saying, “I understand. You are not a religious order. However, you are not simply mercenaries either.” She then looked over to Annika and told her, “I know what you are thinking, leader of the CAS. Using an enemy’s own power against them is a valid battle tactic.”

Annika nodded and smiled back at Zacian. She then heard Zoltar calling out, “Those boulders are standing to land uncomfortably close to our position. We will have to head into the coastal forests and find a place to make a camp for the night. I am not sure what out next move is, but we will probably have to figure it out no later than tomorrow at this rate.”

Zacian told Zoltar, “Zamazenta and I will stay with you for the time being. There is strength in numbers against the vile traitors we all oppose.”

Zoltar smiled and nodded back at Zacian. He then barked, “Let’s get a move on, everyone! We cannot afford to stay here for much longer.”

Dragging some of their unconscious comrades behind them, the Shawlian Resistance, the ten adventurers and the two war wolves made their way into the forests. They would need to find a defensible place to camp for the night. Hopefully, they would also come up with a new plan of action soon.

As her away team marched north with the resistance, Annika could only wonder what Eternatus was now up to. They had mentioned an alternative plan of their’s before. Annika was now very worried that that plan would soon be enacted. Knowing how powerful Eternatus was, she could not help but be afraid.


	28. A Critical Decision

After spending a few hours marching south through the forests, the Shawlian Resistance managed to find a large clearing nearby a stone ridge that jutted out of the ground. Using what supplies they had scavenged from their, now destroyed, cave hideout before fleeing it, they set up a basic camp. They were not sure how long they would be staying at this position. However, they knew that the CTO still held the upper hand in the vicinity despite the few victories that they had won over the last few days. Without a base of operations and facing the well-defended walls of Shawlia, the resistance would have a very low chance of retaking the city in the near future. Also, even if Shawlia were to be reclaimed, the strong possibility of a near-immediate CTO counter-offensive hung over the resistance fighters and their allies.

Despite their uncertain future, there was some hope for the band of less than forty-five Pokémon. They still had the aid of not only the Shawlia Adventurers’ League, but the five-member away team from the famed Creekside Adventurers’ Society. They also seemed to have secured the more permanent aid of Lady Zacian and Lord Zamazenta, the literal incarnations of warfare. They had a small yet potent fighting force. They were just faced with an enemy that controlled far more territory and had marshalled a much larger army than they had.

As for the possibility of foreign intervention coming to save the day, there was simply no evidence for that at the moment. There was hope that either the CAS member Sylvester, or some of the refugees who had fled Shawlia, would marshal an army and return to the city to liberate her. However, how long that would take was still entirely unclear. Annika thought that Sylvester could have gotten back to Creekside Town by that point. However, there was simply no way to know what was happening back on the Grand Island, or elsewhere on the Adalsian Continent for that matter.

It was evening when Zoltar called a strategy meeting around a campfire next to the rocky ridge. Only a small portion of the camp was invited. Zoltar was there as the military leader of the Shawlian Resistance and previously the Shawlia City Watch. Alessandra was there as the only living representative of the Shawlia City Council present among the resistance. Eliza was there as the League Head of the SAL and Annika was there as the Society Head of the CAS. Zacian and Zamazenta were there because nobody had wanted to offend the legendaries by not inviting them. Also, because they would hopefully have some solid tactical insights, seeing as though they were the living incarnations of warfare.

With all six invited Pokémon present, Zoltar opened the strategy meeting by explaining, “I have called this meeting because we need to make a new plan and make one fast. The CTO still holds Shawlia and is likely going to be looking for us to root out and destroy our force. We have proven to be a consistent thorn in their side. Thankfully, even though we are quite low on supplies, we still have a decent number of capable fighters with us. We also now have the backing of two Legendary Pokémon. I still believe that we can make a real dent in the CTO. I do not think we should simply try to make our way to whatever free settlement we can find and hope that they will take us in and hear us out.”

Alessandra sighed and mentioned, “I admit that it would be tricky without maps to find a settlement without just going right to one of the two rival ports. Even then, CTO patrols would complicate our journey there. With all of that said, I do think that gathering a larger force with whoever’s help we can solicit and trying to retake Shawlia is a good course of action. We will have to return to civilization at some point before that can be accomplished.”

Eliza pointed out, “Foreign help could arrive any day. The problem is how we would determine if reinforcements were coming without returning to the coast. Still, I know that there is no guarantee that an army will arrive from either the Grand Island, or some other part of this continent.”

Annika had been waiting for a good opportunity to speak. She had a plan in mind, but she was not sure how it would go over. Since half of the others present had spoken, she decided to say, “As most of you should know, I was a prisoner of the CTO for about a week. Soon after my initial capture, I was taken by someone called Overseer Beck to meet with Eternatus. They laid out their personal history and their reasons for hating Arceus to me. However, they also expressed confidence that their victory would be achieved one way or another. Eternatus hopes, as some of you know already, to conquer the world and get the attention of the supposed Overdiety that way. However, they mentioned another possible way that they would try to reach their god, or some other divine entity capable of completing Eternatus’s ultimate goal. That goal being the death of Arceus.”

Zacian growled and replied, “So, the traitor wants our master and creator dead! They are at least smart enough to know that they could never accomplish that personally. So, they intend to enlist someone with even more power than them to do their vile dirty work.”

Zamazenta angrily added, “This will not stand! Eternatus will not get away with this monstrous affront! If only more of our legendary kin knew about this rogue’s traitorous beliefs, then they would flock to our banner and assist us in tearing the false prophet limb from limb!”

Annika sighed a bit and then continued, “Eternatus told me that they had a backup plan of sorts to try and contact the Overdiety, or some other god willing to both work with them and accept the superiority of the Overdiety. As the Shadower Azura was dying, she made some claims that strongly implied that Eternatus was setting their backup plan into motion. If that is the case, we cannot afford to sit around and wait for a foreign army, even the one I sent Sylvester to marshal, to show up and liberate Shawlia. We need to go and confront Eternatus! If we can slay them, then we will have decapitated the CTO. That should set this war on a path to its end. The CTO would not exist without Eternatus. I doubt that it will be able to keep its momentum up for long without them.”

Alessandra asked Annika, “Your point is worth considering. Still, where would we go to find Eternatus?”

Annika answered, “Mount Galtia, that is where. Eternatus told me that that was where the CTO is headquartered. That is where they crashed to this world and converted their first few recruits. If we want to defeat the CTO, we will have to attack and take their base of operations. Even if Eternatus is not there when we attack, they will likely come and try to retake their headquarters once they learn that it has fallen.”

Zoltar asked Annika, “Assuming that could live off the land and our remaining food supplies as we moved south while avoiding settlements and enemy patrols, it should take around a week to reach the foot of Mount Galtia. However, even if we reached the enemy headquarters, how would our small force assault it successfully?”

Annika replied, “For one thing, with Alyssa’s Aura Sense and Marcy’s weather prediction ability, we can avoid most enemy patrols and settlements along with knowing what weather fronts might be coming our way. As for assaulting Mount Galtia. If our force gets there at its current strength, we should stand a chance because most of the CTO’s crusaders are off trying to conquer and hold other settlements. Their religious empire is only so big as of now and might still have rebellions they have to put down from time to time. Especially considering the losses they have already taken in capturing and holding Shawlia, their army must be spread pretty thin. I still think that we will face significant resistance. However, the enemy will not have time to call for and receive significant backup from their other territories in the amount of time it will take for us to assault the mountain.”

Alessandra looked worried, Zoltar looked intrigued and Eliza looked impressed with Annika. It was Zacian who broke the silence by saying, “I approve of Annika’s plan. With me and my brother, along with the forces you have gathered here, I believe that we can successfully launch a surprise offensive against Mount Galtia. I have been to the mountain before, so I should know a few things about how to properly ascend it. The mountain should be visible from a good distance, guiding us in our journey. Also, Mount Galtia’s summit is not high enough, especially after Eternatus’s crash blew away the peak, that it would take multiple days to crest it.”

Zamazenta admitted, “I have my own misgivings. However, I trust my older sister and will defer to her on this important matter. We will accompany you to Mount Galtia and assist you in ending Eternatus once and for all. We have spoken on this matter.”

Eliza pointed out, “Annika and her team came to the aid of my adventurers’ league when we were still insignificant on any scale. I will devote my small group’s energy to her plan. Also, there is matter of Eternatus having almost murdered me back at the arena. I would like to see them ended as much as anyone else here.”

Alessandra sighed deeply and admitted, “If this plan is carried out, it will be a risky one to be sure. However, Annika’s logic is sound and her experience speaks for itself. Captain Zoltar, I will defer to your decision in this case.”

Zoltar took a few moments to think. He then announced, “If Eternatus is planning something big, possibly world shaking if it succeeds, than we may have no choice but to confront the so-called prophet and take them out of the war with all deliberate speed. I know that Annika’s plan is risky, but it is backed by solid tactical logic and we might not have much time as it is. We will move out tomorrow morning and attempt to reach Mount Galtia within a week.”

Annika replied, “Thank you all for trusting in me. I should mention one more thing before we adjourn this meeting. As I may have hinted sometimes before, I am not helping you all fight and risking my life and my friends and wife’s lives for the same reasons as you all. I am not doing it for my home, I am not doing it out of opposition to the idea of an Overdiety and I am certainly not doing it for Arceus or another divine entity or religion. I am doing this for freedom and because it is the right thing to do. I am married to someone who abandoned and turned against her master and her other closest allies and friends because she knew that their plan was morally deplorable. She is my ethical anchor so to speak and I intend to do her and myself proud, even despite the risks involved.”

Eliza nodded at Annika, Alessandra looked a bit taken aback and Zoltar seemed to shrug it off. Zamazenta looked to Zacian, who replied, “Your candor is admirable, Annika. We don’t see eye to eye on everything. However, we can at least agree on the need to defeat Eternatus. I think that this meeting can now be adjourned.”

Zoltar nodded in agreement with Zacian and then officially adjourned the meeting that he had called. 

As the six Pokémon adjourned their meeting and went to inform their comrades of the new plan, Annika truly hoped that her calculations were correct. She knew how serious the consequences would be if the upcoming offensive failed. However, if they succeeded, Eternatus would die and hopefully, the CTO would die along with them not long after that.

Before going to sleep next to Alyssa, Annika had explained her plan to her team. Everyone had agreed to follow Annika as they always had. They would stay together and fight until the last mon standing to bring down Eternatus. They all knew that their consciences would not allow them to do otherwise. Nia, Marcy and Lawrence remained as loyal as ever. None of them were willing to back down at this point. Alyssa told Annika that she was proud of her and the two of them shared a passionate kiss before falling asleep together under the stars.

The next morning, the basic camp was packed up and the resistance force began its march south towards Mount Galtia. Everyone in the strike force would likely have to be willing to fight in the battle for the mountain. The march to Mount Galtia’s foothills would be dangerous. However, with Alyssa and Marcy around, it would be easier to avoid enemies and other problems. It was not entirely clear what the plan of attack would be once they arrived at Mount Galtia. However, everyone involved knew that their primary objective would be killing Eternatus. The self-proclaimed Prophet was the author of all the suffering the Shawlians and their allies had experienced since the capture of the Hilltop Shrine. It was time for them to finally pay for their actions.


	29. Cardega Town

Over the week following their retreat from the, now demolished, coastal cave network, the Shawlian Resistance and their allies made their risky trek south through woodlands, plains and across a couple of rivers. They used Alyssa’s Aura Sense to stay far away from any settlements and possible CTO Crusader Force units on the way. The entire force all knew that the element of surprise was critical to the success of their mission. Therefore, they covered their tracks and former campsites as best as they could. Moving through the less heavily wooded areas by night and the more heavily wooded areas by day, gathering food and getting sleep when then could, the strike force closed in on Mount Galtia. During the trip, Annika used her spare time to learn more about the species of Pokémon native to the Adalsian Continent that were not native to the Grand Island.

Riccardo knew that Mount Galtia was a small mountain just to the north of a larger range that ran through the central regions of the Adalsian Continent. There were, or at least had been, three small settlements positioned around the base of the mountain. One of them was on the southern base of the mountain, one was directly east of the peak and the final one was to the northwest of the peak. That one, Cardega Town, was the one that the strike force was closing in on. 

Currently, the leaders of the strike force were unsure of whether or not to try and capture Cardega Town and then begin ascending up the mountain. They could also avoid the town and make a beeline for the summit while risking being flanked quickly upon their being discovered. Nobody in the strike force thought that they could reach the summit of Mount Galtia undetected. Thankfully, the strike force was not expecting weather to be a major problem for their offensive. It was currently late Spring and the only major deviations in the weather the strike force had encountered were a few rainstorms. They had been aware of these storms beforehand, thanks to Marcy’s unique senses.

Now, it was dawn and the strike force was positioned at the edge of a grand expanse of forest. Before them and across a short expanse of dusty plains was Mount Galtia. They had made it this far without being detected by their enemies somehow. Now, they had to carry out their real mission and assault the CTO headquarters while hoping that Eternatus was there. They could see some structures in the distance. That had to be Cardega Town.

Alyssa reached out with her Aura Sense as she stood beside Annika. Her eyes were closed and her aura-sensing organs were flowing behind her. When her eyes opened, she reported, “That ‘town’ up ahead is practically deserted. I faintly sensed a few auras in the vicinity, around ten to fifteen of them. However, I am reasonably sure that they are located underground.”

Marcy added, as the strike force members around her squinted to try and get a better look at the buildings, “I am not picking up any weather fronts moving into the area. The bad news is that we won’t get any cover from dark clouds or from precipitation. Once our force leaves this forest, we will be vulnerable to detection from the CTO forces undoubtedly stationed on and around the mountain.”

Annika looked carefully at the buildings in the distance and mentioned, “Even at this range, it looks like Cardega Town is a ghost town now. I wonder what could have happened to it?”

Alyssa suddenly closed her eyes and told her comrades, “I sense a single aura moving underground towards our position at a rapid pace. …It seems inquisitive and wary. Whoever this is, they are not obviously hostile.”

Eliza, who was standing nearby with her team, suggested, “We should move back a bit. This singular aura could still be a CTO scout who has detected us. However, the fact that they are coming our way alone raises some questions.”

The strike force backed into the woods a bit. However, Alyssa reported that the lone aura was still getting closer. Everyone tensed up a bit as the aura was nearly right below the strike force. The good news was that no other auras were moving closer to the strike force at the moment.

Once the aura was just inside the woods, but still underground, a single male Haunter rose up out of the ground and looked over the strike force. He gasped a bit in surprise when he saw Zacian and Zamazenta. Before any of the strike force members could react to his appearance, he asked them, “Who… who are all of you?” His voice was weary and tired sounding. However, there was a slight element of hope to it.

Zoltar stepped forward first, he asked the Haunter, “First, who are you?”

The Haunter quickly replied, “My name is Mordred. I am the lead scout for Cardega Town. Whoever you all are, you are not dressed like the followers of Eternatus. And you seem to have brought two Legendary Pokémon with you…”

Zacian stepped forward now and replied, “Mordred, your home is in shambles from we can see. Is that the doing of the traitorous Eternatus and their foolish followers?”

Mordred nodded his floating body as tears started to appear in his eyes. He exclaimed, “After all these months, reinforcements! My Lady, we have been hiding from the infidels and their alien leader ever since they converted the nearby towns and began marching outwards. When the majority of Cardega’s populace resisted Eternatus’s blasphemous ‘church,’ the Crusader Force burned down most of our home and forced the survivors underground. Carver, our old Militia Captain, became our leader. We have been eking out an existence in tunnels beneath our home for months. Now, you have come to help put an end to this madness, why else would you be here?”

Annika stepped forward now. She informed Mordred, “You should know that we did not come with an army. There are only around forty of us of drastically varied levels of experience. We are here to assault the summit of Mount Galtia and bring Eternatus down for good. If you will stand with us, then know that your survivors will likely be exposed in the process.”

Mordred seemed a bit concerned now. However, he looked Annika in the eyes and told her, “I will have to alert Carver if that is your plan. However, if this gives us any chance of avenging our fallen by ending Eternatus, then it will be worth the risk as far as I’m concerned.”

Zoltar told Mordred, “Whether or not your leader Carver wants to take part in this operation, we intend to march into Cardega and then up the road leading to the summit of Mount Galtia. We would appreciate your monpower and knowledge of the area, however.”

Mordred admitted, “I cannot stop you from advancing into what is left of my hometown. However, I will return to Carver and tell him of what you intend to do. We will join you in the old town square if he is willing to fight. Just be warned that the enemy will take notice once they realize that a foreign force has appeared in Cardega. Eternatus has allowed the ruins of our home to stand as a warning to would be resistors. They have still failed to wipe us few out for many months now, they will relish the chance to finish the job if an opportunity presents itself.”

Annika began to realize how much the survivors of Cardega had been through. They had been resisting the CTO since the time of its foundation. Now, hopefully they would take their chance for revenge and victory over the CTO by joining with the strike force targeting the summit of Mount Galtia.

Mordred lowered himself back into the ground and then Alyssa reported that she sensed his aura rapidly making for the others below the ruins of Cardega Town.

Nia mentioned, “It seems like the Shawlians are far from the only ones who have lost control of their homes to Eternatus’s madness. We cannot let this go on. Lady Annika, everyone, I know that we can put an end to this today!”

Lawrence added, “Today may very well be the day that Eternatus dies. We cannot afford to fail here!”

Marcy said, “We won’t let these CTO zealots ruin any more lives!”

Eliza finished, “We have to remember everyone back in Shawlia who is counting on us to see freedom again!”

Not long after the strike force finished psyching themselves up for the fight to come, Zoltar took a deep breath after Alyssa reported that Mordred was now with the other Cardegan auras. He then ordered, “Forward everyone! We will enter Cardega Town and then make our way to the summit of Mount Galtia, for Shawlia, for Arceus and for freedom!”

The strike force surged out of the forest and onto the open plains. They proudly marched across the open territory between the forests and Cardega Town. They were here now, right next to their enemies effective capital. Now, it was their turn to hit the CTO hard and fast. Eternatus was their target. It was time to cut the head off of the CTO Ekans.

As the strike force neared Cardega Town, Alyssa called out, “I sense twelve auras, including Mordred, making their way to the surface!”

Sure enough, when the strike force entered the ruined town, its buildings burnt, smashed, rotting and abandoned, they saw twelve Pokémon awaiting them in the main square. At the front of the ragtag group was a male Scizor wearing a Mega Stone necklace akin to Marcy’s around his neck. Mordred was floating right next to him. Annika was certain that he had to be Carver.

The Scizor stepped forward and looked over the new arrivals. He then said, “I am Carver, the current recognized leader of Cardega Town. Mordred tells me that you all have come to put an end to Eternatus. If that is so, than I will pledge what little forces and supplies we have to aid you in that noble endeavor.”

Zoltar stepped forward and responded, “I am Zoltar, the Watch Captain of Shawlia City. My home has suffered like yours has, albeit not to the same degree. We would appreciate any food that you have, as we have been scavenging what we could find for the last few days. However, as soon as we have eaten and taken stock of our forces, we intend to waste no time in marching on the summit.”

Mordred told the strike force’s members, “The leader of the infidels, Eternatus, has been working on something atop the mountain for days now. Their servants have been working even more feverishly than before to gather the crystal remains of the meteor that monster crashed to this world in. We do not have the foggiest idea why, though.”

Annika clenched her clawed hands into fists and said, “That has to be a part of the backup plan I heard Eternatus mention. We may not know what Eternatus is trying to do with all of that crystal. However, whatever it is, it cannot be good for us!”

Eliza angrily suggested, “In that case, we really do not have much time to lose! Eternatus is here and preparing to finish the preparations for some dastardly scheme of theirs’! We will have to assault the summit today.”

As Carver’s allies were gathering their food stores, Alyssa said, “I will keep scanning the area for incoming auras. Once the CTO knows that we are here, they will presumably organize a response team of some sort.”

While the strike force and Cardegan Pokémon ate, Zacian and Zamazenta kept watch. Alyssa made sure to scan the area with her Aura Sense every few minutes so that there was very little chance that any CTO response unit would catch the resistance fighters and adventurers off guard.

Soon after everyone was done eating and getting ready to march up the mountain, Alyssa called out, “I am picking up three enemy teams on their way. There are two smaller groups with less than ten soldiers in each that will probably try to flank the square and one larger squad with about twenty members heading right down the mountain road towards us!”

Zacian replied, “Zamazenta and I will each take a few fighters and engage one of the smaller enemy teams!”

Carver ordered, “Mordred, take half of our force and go with Lady Zacian! I will take the others and go with Lord Zamazenta! Captain Zoltar, I trust that your fighters can hold off the enemies coming down the main road?”

Zoltar responded, “We will have to do more than that! We will take down all of these response teams and then charge up the mountain road before the CTO can regroup!”

Carver nodded and then told Zoltar, “Good luck and thank you. We will regroup as soon as the enemy advance is stopped.” Then, he and Mordred split up their forces and went to accompany Zacian and Zamazenta.

As the Shawlian Resistance force and the two teams of adventurers marched to the spot where the mountain road first reached the ruins of Cardega Town, Annika suggested, “Captain Zoltar, I think that we should put my team, Eliza’s team and your best fighters at the front of our formation. We will leave the others a bit farther back under the command of Alessandra. That way, we risk minimal losses to our less experienced fighters. We outnumber the enemy this time, possibly because they have underestimated our strength. We will want to minimize casualties before we attempt to take on Eternatus and whoever stands with them.”

Zoltar nodded and then began to bark out orders for his watch officers to bolster the front line while Alessandra was to command a rear guard consisting of the less-experienced militia members and former civilians who had joined the resistance. There would still be over twenty Pokémon ready to meet the CTO Response Team when they arrived.

Alyssa continued to report on what she was sensing. She was able to confirm that there were no more enemies entering her range for the time being. However, the roughly twenty enemies who were coming down the mountain side were almost on top of the resistance force waiting just outside of what remained of Cardega Town.

As the CTO unit came into view, Annika could clearly see that, somewhat surprisingly, Overseer Beck was jogging down the slope at the lead of the response team. A Dynamax Crystal hung from a chain necklace around his neck.

Once the two forces sighted each other, Beck called out, “So, it is you, Annika. If this sneak attack is your doing, than I would expect no less from a hero of your reputation. It will be my truest test in my service to Prophet Eternatus to defeat you in battle!”

Annika called back, as Marcy, Alyssa and Lilac mega evolved, “I thought you were just the head of the supply and engineering corps?”

Beck responded as his forces began to charge towards their enemies, “Yes I am. This is a delaying action. We are just here to make sure that Commander Harrison has a chance to rally his troops to repel your surprise attack. Prophet Eternatus has ordered it. Therefore, I obey!”

Zoltar barked out, “Damn it, they will have more enemies awaiting us on the mountain road. We need to eliminate this delaying force as fast as we can, regroup and then start our advance up the mountain before Harrison can fully rally his troops!”

As ranged attacks started to fly from both sides, Annika took aim at an enemy Silicobra and blasted her unconscious with frozen air. She shouted, “If Harrison is up on the mountain road, then I am saving my Dynamax Crystal for the fight with him!” Then, Nia rushed forward and channeled a massive blast of psychic energy through her eyes, downing at least two enemies and wounding some others.

Lilac, Ty, Eliza and Zoltar rushed into battle as Jenny led the resistance flyers up into the sky to provide air support and engage the few flying enemies. Marcy charged up her energy razors while Lawrence began to fire a storm of barbs at some distant foes.

Alyssa fired off an Aura Sphere to drop a crusader Carkol and then conjured up her bone staff. She called out, “Ty, let’s engage the enemy leader!”

Ty nodded and called back, “Understood! I think I have just the thing to bring him down in my arsenal now!” Then, the two of them rushed towards the Cinderace Overseer.

Beck summoned up a ball of fire in his hands. He then kicked it at Annika, she took the ball right to the chest and fell to her knees. Beck then called out to his squad, “Get away from me as fast as you can!” The CTO troops, still under fire from the resistance and their allies, did their best to split up and get away from Beck.

Right after taking out a CTO Sandaconda with an icy beam, Nia called out, “He is going to Dynamax!”

Riccardo tossed an orb of electricity into Beck. However, he withstood the hit and slammed his Dynamax Crystal into the ground in front of him. Beck grew to an enormous size as his allies regrouped around his feet. He shouted down, “The blessing of the Prophet will carry us to victory! Down with all who oppose the truth of the Overdiety!”

The resistance fighters on the ground scattered as beck blasted their frontlines with a massive flare. Zoltar and Eliza were both badly injured, but kept fighting.

Annika saw another enemy Silicobra closing in on Alyssa and Ty. They were still headed right for Beck. She sniped the foe to the ground with a blast of frozen air and then slowly pulled herself to her feet.

Riccardo called out, “Everyone, keep Alyssa and Ty covered! We have to take the giant enemy commander down!”

Marcy discharged her energy razors and Nia fired off a second cone of mental energy. The attacks downed at least five more enemies and slightly injured Beck. Jenny flew down into the fray and summoned a torrent of wind that tore into a number of foes all around her. Lilac continued to stay in the fight by draining the life out of her foes while Eliza tore into foes that closed with her using her wickedly sharp claws.

Zoltar began to gather electricity in his body, looking angrily up at Beck. He called out, “Hit him as hard as you can! I’ve got an idea!”

Alyssa had now reached Beck’s feet with Lawrence covering her and Marcy on her way. She began to rapidly strike the giant Cinderace with her bone staff. Beck jumped up onto one foot and yelped in pain from the attacks.

Ty rushed in and shouted, “Now’s my chance. Eat this, fanatic scum!” He conjured up a series of boulders around his body, as Riccardo and some other resistance fighters covered him. He then tossed the boulders into Beck’s leg that was still on the ground.

Beck was starting to teeter, he had to put his other foot back on the ground to avoid collapsing. However. Zoltar shouted, “This is for Shawlia!” He then leapt right at Beck’s stomach like a bolt of lightning. Somehow, the supercharged Zoltar struck Beck just hard enough and high enough to inflict some serious damage to the Cinderace. 

As Zoltar landed safely, energy exploded off of Beck’s body. He shrunk down to his normal size and collapsed to the ground, still breathing, but seemingly unable to fight any longer.

Annika saw Beck’s troops beginning to fall back, now that their leader was unable to fight and almost dead. She sniped a fleeing enemy Appletun to the ground with an icy shot and then advanced towards the fallen Beck.

As Beck’s troops were being routed by Zoltar’s fighters and the adventurers, the Overseer looked up into the sky and stammered, “You all are really determined, you know that. Harrison, buddy, good luck…you will need it.”

Beck tried to charge his body with fire one more time. However, Marcy leapt in and finished him with her head scythe. The Overseer stopped breathing and the fire around his body died with him.

Alyssa closed her eyes as the resistance fighters finished wiping out Beck’s squad. She announced, “Zacian and Zamazenta have both succeeded in eliminating the flanking squads. We should go and meet with them soon. We have no time to waste.” She then walked over to Annika and channeled a healing pulse into her wounded wife.

Zoltar seemed actually impressed with himself as his Shawlian allies and subordinates crowded around him. The resistance fighters and adventurers focused on regrouping and resting as Jenny and the other flyers went to go and fetch Zacian, Zamazenta and the Cardegan fighters. Thanks in major part to Annika’s plan, the resistance had only taken severe injuries at most from the response team’s attack. Nobody on their side had been knocked out or killed in the battle. That was likely because the less experienced fighters had been kept in the rear of the formation, including when Beck had Dynamaxed. Also, Annika still had her stolen Dynamax Crystal unexpended. She was determined to try it out by the end of the day.

Soon, an impressed Carver and Mordred, along with Zacian, Zamazenta and the other Cardegan survivors regrouped with Zoltar’s main force. With no more time to waste since the crusaders led by Commander Harrison were amassing somewhere along the mountain road, the strike force made haste up the mountain. Everyone hoped that the results of this day would be the beginning of the end for the CTO. In order for them to claim victory, they would need to destroy Eternatus. The self-proclaimed prophet could not be allowed to escape the battle this time.


	30. The Battle of Mount Galtia

The stage was now set for yet another climactic battle atop a mountain with a flattened summit. Annika could not help but remember that assaulting an enemy force based atop a mountain was how her adventurers’ society had first gained intercontinental fame as heroes, rather than just being considered well-respected mercenaries. Annika was sure that Eternatus was atop Mount Galtia, preparing to enact whatever their sinister backup plan was. Today had to be the day that the leader of the Church of the Overdiety fell in battle. Especially considering the various circumstances and with no guarantee of help on its way, the Shawlian Resistance and their allies could not afford to lose the battle for the mountain.

The resistance strike force had begun their advance up the mountain road in the mid-morning. Zoltar, Zacian, Zamazenta and the Cardegan leader Carver were at the front of the formation. The two adventuring teams were right behind them. Just behind them was the front the bulk of the strike force. Alessandra was leading the rear guard, seeing as though it was completely possible that the enemy would attempt a flanking maneuver once the strike force was climbing up the mountain road. They all knew that Commander Harrison, the military leader of the CTO, was somewhere up on the mountain. They would likely have to face him and his soldiers in battle if they were to reach their objective, Eternatus. They had all made it this far, now they intended to finish the job.

And so, the strike force continued to march up the mountain road, which had been designed and laid to make travel up and down the mountain much easier. The road apparently predated the arrival of Eternatus. Thankfully, it had not fallen into heavy disrepair in the time since Cardega Town was effectively destroyed by the early Crusader Force. The road was broad enough that the roughly fifty strike force members could stay in a solid formation and not be forced into a specific pattern as they marched. Jenny and the other air scouts, including Mordred, were flying above the small formation. Alyssa was reaching out with her Aura Sense to make sure that the strike force would detect any enemies they were closing in on long before battle was joined.

It was early afternoon, around five hours into the climb and after a small lunch had been eaten when Alyssa called out, “I sense a significant concentration of enemies up ahead! At least thirty on the ground and at least eight in the air. I believe that Harrison is leading them. There are other auras making their way towards that force, at least another six for now. They seem to be preparing to make their stand where they are now.”

Zoltar responded, “In that case, we need to get there as fast as we can and try to crush the enemy while we still outnumber them! They may very well be the last real obstacle in the way of us reaching Eternatus!”

Marcy pointed out, “They were probably hoping that all the climbing would tire most of us out and then they would strike when we reached their position. They should know that most of us have been walking for days now just to get here. We will not tire so easily!”

The rest of the strike force cheered and then stepped up their pace as they made a beeline for the place where their enemies were readying to engage them.

It was less than an hour until the strike force found itself in visual range of Commander Harrison and the crusaders under his command blocking the mountain road. Basic wooden barricades and a few boulders had been hastily positioned to try and complicate the strike force’s advance. It looked like the CTO had been caught off guard by the arrival of their enemies at their home base. They were rapidly marshalling defenders from across the area to stall, or stop, the invaders.

As the resistance and their allies continued to advance, Harrison stepped forward with his wooden drum on his back. With his soldiers staying a good distance from him and a new Dynamax Crystal in one of his hands, he called out, “You deniers of the truth dare to assault this place! The Prophet Eternatus will not tolerate such defiance! In the name of the Overdiety, they have called upon me and my fellow faithful to end your brazen attack!”

Annika did not bother to respond to Harrison, she charged forward while shouting, “Cover me! I will take out their leader!”

As Annika’s comrades surged forward behind her and ranged attacks began to fly from both sides, Annika pulled out her stolen Dynamax Crystal.

As everyone who could Mega Evolved, Harrison gasped, “That crystal… Mighty as you may be, you are unworthy to wield the Blessing of the Prophet!”

Annika shouted back, as Zacian and Zamazenta bolted past her to begin tearing into the crusaders who were not airborne or behind cover, “We will see about that!” She then slammed the crystal into the ground and grinned as her body was supercharged with energy. Annika felt raw power coursing through her entire being as she grew to a tremendous size and towered over the battlefield.

Harrison actually seemed afraid for once. He then grimaced and shouted, “Two can play at that game, infidel!” He slammed his Dynamax Crystal into the ground and rapidly grew to tower over Annika.

As the battle raged around the two Dynamaxed Pokémon, Annika shouted, “Steer clear of the center of their formation, everyone!” She could not help but laugh as she raised up her claws and then brought them down. Annika’s gesture conjured up a massive hailstorm over the center of the CTO formation. The small boulder-sized chunks of ice crashed into the enemy barricades and shattered them to splinters. Harrison looked heavily injured and many of his soldiers fell, or took heavy injury, from the storm. 

Now, Annika was taking a barrage of ranged attacks from enemies on the ground and in the air. However, her temporary form could withstand the hits. Harrison tossed a number of giant seeds into the center of the strike force, the attack wounding many of Zoltar’s fighters badly. However, Zacian and Zamazenta were already hacking into the flanks of the crusaders' defensive formation.

Harrison called out to Annika, “You were foolish to waste the crystal blessing you stole in your battle with me instead of against the Prophet!”

Annika called back, “You are just saying that because we are tearing into your forces!” She then called down a second torrent of hail, which downed more of the CTO defenders and smashed multiple of their cover boulders to rubble. Harrison was now clutching his wounds and grimacing in pain. The ongoing hailstorm in the area forced the CTO defenders to split into two groups. Both of which were under attack from a Legendary Pokémon and other strike force members.

Alyssa called up to Annika, “More and more enemies are on their way! There are at least twenty of them in the first wave! We need to take down Harrison so that they will be leaderless when they arrive!”

Lawrence shouted, “I see that Corviknight Captain, Octavian, on his way! Riccardo, help me blast him from the sky!”

Riccardo and Lawrence began to fire bolts of lightning at the incoming Corviknight, who was at the head of some Crusader reinforcements coming from the east to join the battle.

As Harrison prepared to fling his seeds again, Nia shouted, “Don’t you even think about it! You are through!” To the crusader commander. She fired an icy beam into his head as the resistance formation began to rapidly advance to meet the enemy and their incoming reinforcements.

Harrison was unable to throw out his seeds. Energy exploded off of him as he shrunk down to his regular size. Eliza was the one who reached him first. She tore into the Rillaboom with her claws energized in an X-shaped strike.

With the battle still raging, Annika could feel herself getting weaker. She made a different gesture with her claws and a series of tendrils of black light flew out to strike a number of airborne enemies, downing at least three of them. Then, Annika began to shrink back down to her regular size. The hailstorm that she had summoned began to die down as well.

As Harrison fell onto his back, the sky began to slowly darken. A bizarre reddish-purple radiation began to be visible coming from atop Mount Galtia’s summit. Harrison chuckled and said, “Prophet Eternatus will prevail. You all are too late. I just wish… that I could have met the Overdiety…” He then breathed his last breath and passed away.

Eliza shouted, as the sky kept getting darker, “Did you all hear that?”

Zoltar quickly took charge and barked out, “Eternatus is putting their backup plan into action! Annika, you were right all along! Take your team and advance to the summit! I know that Zacian and Zamazenta will go with you. Everyone else, regroup and focus on holding off any enemies we can here after clearing a path for the CAS!”

Zacian and Zamazenta, hearing Zoltar and seeing the sky darken downed the crusaders closest to them and then began to advance on the summit.

Alyssa grimaced as her Mega Evolution wore off and shouted, “It should still take us around an hour to reach the summit. I can only hope that we make it in time to stop Eternatus. They seemed to have more forces here than we predicted they would.” She then charged forward with Nia and Marcy right behind her.

Lawrence fired off one more lightning strike, which hit Octavian in the head and knocked him out of the sky. He then rushed in behind Nia, Marcy and Alyssa.

Annika regrouped with her team and led the charge towards the gap in the enemy formation. As her Mega Evolution wore off, Marcy shouted, “I see some enemies trying to stop us! Keep moving, I have an idea. I am NOT missing this showdown like I missed the last one!”

As around six crusaders tried to block the CAS team from getting past their formation, Marcy discharged her energy razors into them. Four enemies, many of which had already been wounded, collapsed. The other two were dispatched quickly by Alyssa and Nia.

As Annika and her team were almost past what was left of the initial crusader formation, they heard Eliza call out, “Annika, this is your chance to prove that you are worthy of all the praise your society gets! It has been a true honor to fight by your side!”

Riccardo called out, as the SAL formed up with Zoltar and moved to engage the crusader reinforcements to keep them off of Annika’s team, “I love you, Nia! Survive for me and for Anetisia!”

Nia called back, “Lady Annika will see this through! We will not fail this time!”

By now, Annika and her team were past the main enemy force and their reinforcements and were thankfully not being pursued. That was likely due to the efforts of Zoltar’s force, the SAL and the Cardegan survivors.

Soon, Annika’s team caught up to Zacian and Zamazenta, who had slowed down a bit to allow them to catch up. The sky continued to darken as strange radiation kept pouring out from the summit of Mount Galtia.

Over a half-hour passed as Annika’s team and the two war wolves continued their advance up the mountain. As they neared the leveled peak, Alyssa mentioned, “I sense something immensely powerful atop the mountain. It seems like it is Eternatus… However, their aura is overflowing with power now and shows no signs of returning to normal. Their power is so strong now that it’s blocking out my ability to sense any other auras that are not within a very small radius of my position.”

Annika was getting more nervous. However, she saw no reason to give up now. She replied to her wife, “Whatever Eternatus is doing now, it had to involve them and their minions collecting all of the crystals left behind by their initial impact. How else could they have increased their power so much? Thankfully, it seems like whatever they are trying to accomplish is not yet fully manifesting. We still have to get up there and take them out!”

Annika’s allies all nodded. With their main force far behind them, and still possibly fighting to keep the crusaders from outflanking them, the seven of them were all that was left to engage and defeat Eternatus.

After another ten minutes, Marcy called out, “I see at least eight crusaders heading this way from the summit! They are approaching fast to the right of us!”

Annika looked up and saw that Marcy was right. She grimaced, knowing that they could not afford to be slowed down any more now that Eternatus was enacting their plan.

As the radiation atop the mountain continued to glow and the sky stayed dark, the enemies were closing in fast. Suddenly, three of them slammed what looked like larger than usual Dynamax Crystals into the ground and began to grow to colossal sizes.

Zacian looked to her brother and then to Annika’s team and announced, “Zamazenta and I will engage this enemy squad and keep them off the road! Annika, I am sorry, but you will have to take your team and reach Eternatus and try to put an end to them, even if they call upon more of their traitorous minions to aid them.”

Annika sighed and nodded. Before she could say anything else, Zacian and Zamazenta rushed off to engage the incoming foes. They would certainly have their paws full, even considering how powerful the two Legendaries were.

Lawrence suggested, “We should be almost to the summit now. We may not be able to rely on Alyssa’s Aura Sense as much as we usually do. But still, we are nearly there! Let’s end Eternatus for good!”

Marcy nodded as the five adventurers picked up their pace. She added, “This time, I will have your back Annika. We will not fail here!”

Nia pointed out, “Eternatus will hopefully be too focused on their plan to be able to flee. We will take them down and end this bizarre distortion!”

Alyssa told Annika, “I am ready, my love! Today, we will stop the CTO!”

Annika nodded and finished, “To the summit! Be ready for anything, team! We will make Eternatus pay for their villainy today!”

Annika and her team rushed up the mountain road for what felt like roughly a quarter of an hour. As they were closing in on the flattened summit of Mount Galtia, they all heard a booming genderless voice, which Annika knew had to belong to Eternatus. The voice called down, “So, it is you Annika. I would expect no less from someone as accomplished as you. This time, I will accept no surrender. You have proven unrelenting in your opposition to my goals and will have to die so that Arceus can face justice.”

Before Annika, or anyone else on her team could reply. The voice called down, “I see you have brought Lucius’s spy with you. You demean and lower yourself by working with such worthless living trash! Her presence makes it even easier for me to justify killing you all to myself.”

Nia actually retorted, “You call Marcy ‘living trash’ yet you are the one who has been waging an unholy war of conquest! You are the one who is going to die today, Eternatus!”

Lawrence also shouted up, “You will not get away from insulting my fiancé like that, you monster!”

Marcy said nothing but kept advancing up the slope with a determined look fixed on her face.

Annika’s team finally reached the flattened summit and stood on steady ground. They saw in the distance, across the sheer surface, a partially-constructed building painted deep purple and reddish. Annika realized that it had to be a house of worship. No doubt it was one that the servants of Eternatus were building to be the “mother church” dedicated to their god. There were a number of tents and other small buildings located around the unfinished church. What was far more immediately concerning was the monstrosity that floated in the air above the summit, ready to confront Annika and her team.

The massive monster looked sort of like Eternatus. However, they had now taken the form of a truly immense coiled snake with their energy core at the very center protected by spiny bone-like structures, but still visible. The “head” of the serpent looked like a five-fingered hand and hung lower than the main body of the being. Just above the main body, it seemed like a massive hole in reality had opened. It was flashing between a number of worlds at an incredibly rapid pace.

Annika gasped, seeing that whatever this form was, it had to be key to Eternatus’s plan. She angrily asked, “Eternatus, what have you done to yourself?”

Eternatus laughed maniacally and responded, “I have realized my true potential! You see, there was one thing that Arceus told me that I have not told you. Arceus created me to be the incarnation of power, the very power that flows through the bodies of all Pokémon! That is why my ‘blood’ can be energized again after it has left my body. That is how I have been able to reabsorb the crystals from my shell to obtain this form. I call it my Eternamax Form! Unlike the Dynamax forms some of my followers have taken on in my name, this form is sustainable for far, far, longer than a mere few minutes! In fact, I have so much power constantly generated that the excess can distort and warp space itself above me while in this form!”

Alyssa pointed to the space above Eternatus and called out, “This is your plan? To distort space with your raw power and hope that the ‘Overdiety,’ or someone other possible Arceus killer, notices and contacts you?”

Eternatus responded, “I chose to do this now both because I have seen how persistent the resistance against my army has been and to minimize further loss of life and property on all sides. You may have slain my three best officers. However, I will avenge their deaths and bring an end to your arrogant resistance here and now!”

The “head” of the snake charged up with fire and then blasted a massive pulse of flames at Annika and Alyssa. Annika dodged most of the blast. However, Alyssa looked badly burnt.

Alyssa and Marcy both Mega Evolved and Alyssa healed herself as best as she could. Annika then ordered, “Our target is Eternatus! Defeating them should stop the spatial distortion! Who knows what horrors they will summon if given enough time?”

Annika then fired a blast of frozen air into one of the snake’s coils. The blast tore off some of the “armor” protecting the coil. However, Eternatus barely looked phased this time.

Marcy began to charge up her energy razors as Lawrence blasted a lightning strike right into Eternatus’s head to little effect.

Nia shouted, “The core has to be their weak point!” She then launched an icy beam at Eternatus’s energy core. However, suddenly, a large clump of earth fell from the spatial distortion and blocked the attack.

Eternatus cackled, “You are not just fighting me! I will take every advantage I can in this battle! You will face the debris of a thousand dimensions before our duel is over if need be!”

Annika saw all kinds of earth, stone and metal debris start to whirl above Eternatus. The demigod seemed to have near complete control over it.

Lawrence shouted, “I will try to intercept the debris!” He then began to fire off spines into the small objects that began to shoot down at Annika’s team.

Marcy fired off her energy razors, which destroyed a lot of the debris and damaged some of Eternatus’s plating. She then began to charge towards Eternatus’s low-hanging head.

Alyssa conjured up her bone staff and rushed towards Eternatus’s head as well. She managed to get one strike in as Annika blasted the neck right near the head. However, a large pillar of stone inscribed with strange runes flew out of the pillar and struck Alyssa head on. The Lucario was sent flying back to the ground next to Annika.

Eternatus shouted, “No cover for you!” They then blasted the whole area with a massive slashing pulse of draconic energy. The pulse did not wound Nia. However, it did obscure her vision enough that she could not take a good shot at Eternatus’s core. Her second icy beam knocked off a piece of plating, instead of hitting the core. The stone pillar was also sent flying off the mountaintop by the draconic wind.

Now, everyone in Annika’s team expect for Nia was injured. Marcy managed to strike Eternatus in the head with a psychic slash. However, they just knocked her aside with their head and she went flying, only to land on her feet next to Annika and Alyssa.

More debris was now incoming, forcing Annika and her team to intercept the incoming projectiles instead of attacking Eternatus.

Eternatus laughed again and then blasted the distracted Nia head on with a blast of fire. The Ice Ninetales screamed in pain, but somehow remained conscious.

Annika screamed, “We have to hit that core! They are still not dropping no matter how hard we hit them!” She was starting to realize that this was one fight her team could be unable to win. There did not seem to be any help on the way, not even from Zacian and Zamazenta. It was certainly possible that even more crusaders had arrived to delay them further.

Annika and her allies, except for Marcy, all sent up ranged attacks at Eternatus’s core. They managed to damage some of the protective spikes somewhat. However, most of their damage was dealt to the nearby coils.

Now, Marcy and Alyssa’s Mega Evolutions were wearing off. Marcy rushed at Eternatus’s head and got in one last leaping psychic slash. However, a steel shield flew at her and knocked her back. Marcy was now trying to get up nearby Annika.

Eternatus called down, "I think that we have had our fun, now haven’t we? You have all fought as admirably as I expected you to. Now, it is your time to die!”

Eternatus dropped what looked like an armored vehicle of some kind with two cannons sticking out it from its front from the spatial distortion above them. As the machine fell, a crate filled with a glowing blue substance fell onto it and was the struck by a sword that also fell from the distortion. The resulting explosion showered Annika’s injured team with debris and fire.

Annika finally slumped over and fell to her knees, as did Alyssa and Lawrence. Nia looked severely weakened and Marcy was struggling to stand up herself.

Annika looked at Alyssa, who was trying with all of her might to summon up a healing pulse. It was unclear who she was trying to aim it at.

Annika glared up at Eternatus. The monstrous demigod’s head was now aimed right at her. They solemnly announced, “Finally, you are defeated. You will not live to see the demise of Arceus. A necessary sacrifice in the end. Goodbye, Annika. You will be remembered as a foolish resistor of the truth, not as a heroine, I am afraid.”

As Eternatus charged their body with fire, Annika looked over to Alyssa and told her, “I will always love you…”

Eternatus fired off their beam of flame. However, Marcy somehow shouted, “Annika!” and managed to leap in front of the flare before it could spread out. She took the whole blast and collapsed to the ground, her body smoldering.

Alyssa almost immediately channeled her healing pulse into Marcy. However, the Absol remained unconscious. Alyssa said, “She is halfway through death’s door, but stable and alive…” 

Lawrence screamed enraged, “Eternatus you monster!” However, he still could not muster the energy required to attack the one who had just nearly killed his fiancé again.

Eternatus sighed a bit and said, “I might have misjudged the Absol. Still, it does not matter. You all are still about to die. She only delayed the inevitable with her sacrifice.”

Annika then gasped once again as she saw that at least thirty more crusaders were closing in on their position. Eternatus chuckled, “My faithful from the construction site nearby have come to watch your demise. They will not be disappointed. Once you are dealt with, they will go and engage your allies and the two loyal children of Arceus who have foolishly trespassed on this mountain.”

As debris whirled above Eternatus, Annika closed her eyes, accepting that Eternatus was the one foe who had been too strong for her team.

Suddenly, Annika heard Eternatus shouting, “Wait…What… NO!”

Annika opened her eyes and looked up to see that the spatial distortion above Eternatus was cracking like glass and sucking up all of the debris back into it. The distortion continued to crack until it shattered completely and disappeared, even as the sky remained dark above Mount Galtia.


	31. The First Children

Annika and her three allies who were still conscious were watching in awe as the spatial distortion above Eternatus’s Eternamax Form shattered. The Demigod of Power had clearly not intended for this to happen. Even as their reinforcements continued to advance on where the distortion had been, they seemed on the verge of panic.

Suddenly, a bellowing female voice Annika knew all too well shouted at Eternatus, “You monster! Your distortion of space got my attention! It looks like I have arrived just in time!”

From behind Annika and company a massive bipedal draconic reptilian leapt in front of the injured adventurers. She seemed to be concentrating on something, most likely keeping Eternatus from resuming their distortion of space.

Eternatus shouted enraged, as their followers stared dumbstruck at the new arrival, “Palkia, the first daughter of Arceus! You have come to try and stop my holy mission, haven’t you! You will die for your defiance along with all the others!”

Eternatus fired off a beam of reddish draconic energy into Palkia’s chest. However, the massive blast did not even break the ancient dragoness’s concentration, even though it did seem to wound her.

Annika shouted, “We have to cover Palkia somehow! She won’t survive those attacks forever and Eternatus has backup!”

At this point Alyssa tried to haul herself to her feet. She smiled warmly and tears began to well up in her eyes. She told her comrades, “She did not come alone! We are not alone! Look behind you, everyone!”

Annika looked back and saw that a massive hole in reality had opened up on the summit behind and to the left of Annika’s team. She instantly recognized the plains just to the south of Creekside Town on the other side. Annika began to tear up as she saw who was coming her way.

A Samurott walked out through the portal, spotted and then turned to face Annika. In Sylvester’s voice he called out, “We are here, Annika! I did just as you asked of me. I made it home and told everyone on the way what was happening. We have been marshalling forces at Creekside ever since I got back and told Drake about what happened in Shawlia!”

Following Sylvester was Rocco, along with the Forretress Watch Captain of Creekside Town, Samson and his entire town watch. Flying through the portal above them were Drake, Ryan, Linda and the entire Creekside Scout force led by the Staraptor Wing Commander Serena, Ryan’s wife. Even more Pokémon, including many that Annika did not recognize, poured out from the portal and began to form up around Palkia.

Rocco used his claws to finish helping Alyssa up as he explained, “A fleet of ships is already on its way to Shawlia! We were considering coming to join them, having gathered what forces we could at home. Then, Lady Palkia came to us about an hour ago and told us that you were in great danger and that she needed our help!”

Lawrence seemed greatly relieved. However, Eternatus’s crusaders were forming up for battle themselves. He shouted, “There are still a whole lot of them and Lady Palkia still has to concentrate for now!”

Palkia grimaced as the two sides began to advance on each other. She then smiled and said, “We have more friends standing at the ready…” Palkia performed a quick gesture with her claws and a second portal began to open on Annika’s left. A towering blue quadruped with a long neck strode out and glared up at Eternatus.

Eternatus shouted, “So, two of the first children of Arceus have come! Very well then, I can see few better ways to hurt Arceus than by killing you and all who stand with you! All units, engage the enemy! Wipe them all out!”

Before Eternatus could attack Dialga, or anyone else, Dialga emitted a massive roar with all of his might. The Roar of Time sent a blast wave of energy out which targeted Eternatus along with a number of his soldiers. Many crusaders fell, or took severe injury, as Dialga began to recover from having unleashed his mighty signature attack.

Annika shouted, “Everyone cover Palkia! This is it, we are ending Eternatus today!” However, she was still trying to stand up herself due to her heavy wounds.

As the battle was joined, Serena led the scouts and Linda in a massed attack on the wounded Eternatus and his flying allies. Drake dove down into the middle of the crusader formation and blasted a number of them with an intense sonic emission from the top of his head.

Sylvester advanced with the Creekside Watch and their reinforcements to cover Palkia. As Nia was trying to stand up, a small group of ice Pokémon rushed to her side and did their best to protect her. A regal female voice called out, “You have fought well, daughter! Creekside is far from alone in this fight. Anetisia stands with her!”

Nia shouted, “Mother! You are here too!” An Ice Ninetales wearing a beautiful silvered crown rushed forward and stood by Nia. Annika recognized the new arrival as Queen Mona of Anetisia, Nia’s mother. Mona fired her own icy beam into one of Eternatus’s coils as the massive being took attacks from all sides.

Suddenly, Annika heard two other familiar voices calling out, “Annika, we’re coming!” She looked to her left and saw that the portal Dialga had come out from led to a sandy beach and that another fifteen or so reinforcements were coming out from it to help engage the crusaders on the ground.

As Eternatus blasted Dialga angrily with a massive flare, failing to fell the incarnation of time, Annika saw her old friends the Typhlosion Leo and his wife the Primarina Sapphire rushing to her side.

As Sapphire helped Annika up with her flipper hands Annika asked, “Were you two still really on vacation?”

Sapphire laughed a bit and told Annika, while Leo kept them covered, “We were about to begin heading home with Leona when we heard secondhand about what had happened in Shawlia and that Sylvester was sending out the call for a counterattack against the CTO. We decided to do all that we could to rally the inhabitants of the southern coast and help get a fleet together to sail back to Shawlia and liberate her. Lord Dialga appeared to us less than an hour ago and told us that he needed our help and that you were in danger. We got everyone we could and prepared for the right moment.”

Leo angrily shook a stubby arm up at the damaged Eternatus and shouted, “You have seriously disrupted the regional economy, you oversized bastard!”

A Corviknight crusader dove at Leo, shouting, “You will not get away with profaning Prophet Eternatus like that!” However, Leo simply unleashed a torrent of fire from his mouth in response, knocking the foe from the sky with a burning headshot.

Annika was now standing again and starting to slowly heal. Leo looked over and saw Marcy’s singed body. He shouted up at Eternatus, “That is another thing that you will pay for, you monstrosity!”

Alyssa smiled faintly and walked over to her wife. She told Leo and Sapphire, “She is alive, but just barely. She had intended to give her life to save Annika from near certain death.”

At this point, Nia and Lawrence were doing their best to shoot up attacks at Eternatus. The massive beast was faltering from the barrage of attacks they were taking. The crusader forces on the ground were taking attacks from Drake, Rocco, Sylvester and the over twenty-five other new arrivals. They now numbered less than half their initial force and were losing morale fast. The tide of the battle had truly turned.

As Dialga recovered from their mighty roar, Annika shouted, “We need to hit that glowing core! That will bring Eternatus down faster! We can finish this now!”

Dialga nodded, saying to Palkia, “This reminds me of our last battle with Anarchos, except this time you were here first!” He then breathed a high-power blast of draconic energy into Eternatus’s core, shattering the spines protecting it and damaging the core proper.

Eternatus screamed, “No! I will not allow myself and my holy mission to be ended by the children of the unworthy Arceus!”

Nia shouted back, “You do not have a choice!” She then managed to stand up fully and fire an icy beam into Eternatus’s exposed core.

Rocco shouted, “Sylvester, everyone else on the ground, keep our allies covered so that they can blast the core!”

Serena, Ryan, Linda and other others flew towards Eternatus’s core, dodging a flare attack from the gigantic rogue legendary. They began to bombard the core with attacks.

As the number of Crusaders on the ground dwindled to less than ten, Annika saw Eternatus beginning to give out. After their core took another few attacks, Annika stood up fully while covered by Leo and Sapphire. She then took aim with her claws and launched a blast of freezing air into Eternatus’s core, striking it dead on.

Energy exploded off of Eternatus as they reverted to their standard form and began to fall out of the sky. Their remaining crusader minions looked on in horror as the Demigod of Power screamed, “NO! You sycophantic spawn of Arceus have ruined everything!”

As Eternatus plummeted to the ground, Palkia was able to cease her concentration. Now that Eternatus could no longer distort space, she tore into reality with her claws. The resulting Spatial Rend slashed into Eternatus’s remaining crusaders. Combined with a final volley of attacks from Sylvester, Rocco, Samson, Mona and the others, the last few crusaders fell. Eternatus was now all alone.

The fallen demigod was now lying on the ground on their side, mortally wounded. Suddenly, they began to laugh, even though even that caused them pain at this point. As Eternatus’s entire body began to be consumed by a reddish light. They called out, “This is the only way I can make Arceus pay for their arrogance, now that the Overdiety has not come to my aid! I will kill you all, even if it ends my own life in the process!”

Annika pointed to Eternatus and shouted, “They are going to self-destruct!”

Palkia called out to her brother, “Dialga, knock them up into the sky! Trust me!”

Dialga shouted, “Stand back, everyone!” He then rushed at Eternatus as the reddish light grew brighter and brighter. Taking some injury in the process from the baleful energy, Dialga crashed into Eternatus and sent the dying demigod flying into the sky with his powerful front two legs.

Palkia then rapidly opened up a portal into what looked like outer space. Eternatus screamed in pain and rage one last time as they were sucked into the vacuum of space. However, they were not able to stop the meltdown of their core at this stage.

BLAM! Eternatus exploded in a blinding flash of light. Palkia closed the portal only a second after the explosion began. A small section of the explosive energy wave harmlessly flew out of the portal, missing Dialga and being evaded by the flying Pokémon in the area. The portal had not been open for long enough to suck anybody else other than Eternatus in to it.

Annika felt energy surge through her body as Alyssa channeled a full-power healing pulse into her wife after having healed herself. The leader of the Creekside Adventurers’ Society looked out over everyone who had come to her team’s aid and saved them at the last moment. She then looked down at the nearly-dead Marcy, who’s side Lawrence had ran to. She finally looked up at Dialga and Palkia and told them, “Eternatus is finally dead. Thank you, Palkia. You and your brother’s aid saved us and the day in the end.” Annika then took a deep breath, not sure of what reaction her next words would elicit. However, she was going to say them regardless. Annika looked Palkia in the eyes and told her, “There was one thing Eternatus was right about, though. Arceus has a lot to answer for.”

Much to Annika’s surprise, Palkia and Dialga nodded at her in agreement. Palkia told Annika, “We certainly know that. We have been hunting for our master and creator to bring them back to their first creation. A world both similar to and different from this one. You should believe me when I say that even gods can make mistakes. There is even one that I made that I will never forgive myself for.”

As Annika nodded back up at Palkia, a tired, injured, yet ultimately triumphant looking Zacian and Zamazenta finally reached the summit. The two war wolves looked stunned to see so many Pokémon there. Once they saw Dialga and Palkia, they immediately bowed low to the ancient demigods.

Annika ordered, “Leo, Sapphire see if you can get Marcy some place to rest safely. Aly, see how much you can heal her up. All other CAS members, come with me, we will see if we can find and possibly assist the Shawlians and their allies who we had to leave behind earlier. Everyone else…. I am not your boss. So, do what you will.”

As Leo, Sapphire and Alyssa picked up the unconscious Marcy and began to move her somewhere safer, Serena, Samson and Mona took command and began to split up teams to secure the area and any of the still-breathing fallen crusaders. Lawrence insisted in staying by Marcy’s side, so that he did. The four Legendary Pokémon were talking amongst themselves as all of that was going on.

As for Annika, she led Nia, Rocco, Sylvester, Ryan, Linda and Drake down the mountain road. It was not long until they found the battered yet victorious Shawlian and Cardegan strike force trekking up the road. Zoltar, Alessandra, Carver, Mordred all five SAL members and plenty of others had survived the battle. Their strike force had managed to overcome the crusaders focused on stalling their advance.

As Annika was explaining what had happened to a greatly relieved Eliza and Zoltar, Nia and Riccardo embraced and nuzzled. Riccardo was quite surprised to hear that Nia’s mother was now among the reinforcements atop the summit of Mount Galtia. Together, everyone trekked back up the summit to celebrate the fall of the false prophet and the capture of their primary base.

Annika and the rest of the CAS members learned that Marcy had been moved to a captured CTO medical tent upon returning to the summit. Zoltar, Eliza, Alessandra and the others made sure to get some rest after thanking those who had come to Annika’s team’s aid. As for the CAS members, as the sky returned to normal and it was clearly evening now, they went to go and see Marcy and make sure that she would be alright in the end. Annika knew that she would now be dead without the sacrifice of the one she had once called a traitor.


	32. Epilogue: With Peace Restored

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, at last we come to the final chapter of this story. I hope that you all will read the notes that I left at the end of this chapter after reading the chapter proper. However, I wanted to mention that a part of this epilogue involves some philosophical ramblings that I know not everyone will agree with. I do not even know if I agree 100% with what I wrote there. I apologize in advance if anyone finds it to be too much of an “author tract.” Regardless, thank you all for reading this far and I hope that you will enjoy the conclusion to this story.

Other than Nia, the entirety of the CAS was standing in the medical tent where Marcy was starting to stir atop the bed she had been placed on earlier. Lawrence was standing nervously right next to her. Alyssa told everyone, “I pumped as much healing energy into her as I safely could. That flare attack practically knocked her into a coma. Still, she should be waking up fully any minute.”

Lawrence responded, “I certainly hope so. Thank you, Alyssa. I think that attack she took head on would have killed her if not for your quick action.”

Annika added, “She was fully willing to give her life for mine. She did not hesitate at all. I maintain that I would have perished without her taking the full blast.”

Linda pointed out, “Thankfully, you lived to take down that monster, Annika. I still have some trouble believing that a Legendary Pokémon went rogue like Eternatus did.”

Sylvester mentioned, as Marcy continued to wake up, “When Annika sent me back home, none of us knew who the ‘Prophet’ was. By the time that Lady Palkia told us what little she knew, we were about to go into battle with them.”

As Marcy was almost awake again, Alyssa finished, “We certainly had a lot to fill you guys in on. Still, we are all standing here now because you and the others did not hesitate when the opportunity to come and aid us arose. Thank you all.”

Marcy’s eyes flew open and she looked around the area. She shook her head rapidly as Lawrence began to sob openly and tried to hug Marcy with his stubby arms. Marcy looked around the room and then asked, “Why is everyone here?… Am I dead?”

Annika chuckled and then wrapped her arms around Marcy’s neck. She then replied, “Palkia showed up with reinforcements in the nick of time. …We won, Marcy! Eternatus is dead and Mount Galtia has been captured.”

Marcy stared ahead in disbelief and then angrily muttered, “I can’t believe I missed the big final showdown again…”

Annika let go of Marcy as Lawrence pointed out, “At least you are alive! Besides, Annika would certainly be dead now if she had taken the full force of that flare. You saved her, darling.”

Marcy nodded slowly as Sapphire added, “You should also credit Alyssa with healing you as soon as you took the flare. She did her best to heal you fully after the battle was won. Still, it took longer than we expected for you to wake up because you were so badly wounded.”

Marcy slowly stood up and told Alyssa, “Thank you. I guess that even after all I did in the past, you all still want me around…”

Leo chuckled, “Did you really think that we would let you die on us? Even Nia said she thinks you have to keep living because you have more atoning to do.”

Drake added, “Not to mentioned that Lawrence told us that you two are engaged now. We would not let you miss your own wedding either.”

Marcy nodded and then kissed Lawrence, as Annika told her team, “We should let Marcy rest for now. She deserves it. Regardless, thank you for saving my life, Marcy. Your attempted sacrifice proved your commitment and determination more obviously and dramatically than any words ever could.”

Annika took Alyssa’s hand and then they led their friends out of the tent. They left Lawrence alone with Marcy to brief her on what had happened and keep watch over her. Drake was going to see if he could talk with Zacian and Zamazenta, the former mercenary captain in training had never thought that he would get a chance to meet the war demigods in the flesh.

As night began to fall over Mount Galtia, Annika and her CAS comrades, along with their various allies and reinforcements, found places to rest the night. The CTO had been decapitated. Now, there was hope that the expansionist religion would collapse without its founder there to guide it.

\---

In the days following the fall of Mount Galtia, Dialga and Palkia transported everyone who had come to help who wanted to return home immediately back. They then left the dimension, promising to continue their hunt for Arceus across the multiverse, even if it took them a century. However, most of the Pokémon who had come to join the battle stayed at Mount Galtia. Word was to be spread far and wide by air scouts and couriers of Eternatus’s death and the capture of the mountain.

News came in not long after the capture of the mountain that a fleet of ships including Captain Julius’s _Ocean Breeze_ had made a dawn attack on Shawlia’s harbor. With help from the occupied city’s populace, the crusaders were forced out within two days. With Shawlia liberated, what was left of the CTO territories and Crusader Force began to face increased pushback from emboldened free settlements that had been informed of Eternatus’s death.

Once the CTO’s remaining loyalists were informed that their leader had been slain and that there was no apparent successor ready, along with their primary base camp having been seized by surprise, desertions became rampant among the Crusader Force and the other CTO units. From Shawlia in the north and Mount Galtia in the south, allied forces marched into battle to crush their demoralized enemies.

Many CTO units surrendered to, or were wiped out by, their now emboldened enemies. A force that had seemed practically invincible before was now brought low within a matter of weeks. It also became known to Annika and her away team that the Lady Suicune had become aware of the threat in Adalsia. She had rallied her brethren Entei and Raikou against the CTO soon afterwards. The trio of Legendary Beasts had led the Grand Island’s forces into Shawlia and south from there. They reclaimed the Hilltop Shrine with no real resistance and pushed ever deeper to liberate settlement after settlement.

The settlements and camps around Mount Galtia surrendered, or were captured, in short order by the forces led by Zacian, Zamazenta and Zoltar. The ruins of Cardega Town soon became a critical base in the liberation effort. It was run by Carver and the other survivors.

All told, the CTO completely collapsed within two months following the allied victory at Mount Galtia. Well over a hundred former crusaders and CTO civilian officials were arrested, some bound ironically with draining restraints. The remaining Dynamax Crystals were all destroyed, so that they could not be used for evil again.

As the allied armies finished up their final cleanup operations and began to ferry hundreds of fighters back to the Grand Island, Shawlia was placed back in the control of her own populace. Dozens upon dozens of refugees returned home to continue their lives as best as they could. Alessandra and Scipio both came back to sit upon the city council. Their old secretary, Jolene, who had survived the occupation, returned as well. Zoltar turned down an appointment to replace the fallen Zachary, preferring to stay on as the Captain of the City Watch. An election to fill the seat that had been held by Zachary was held not long after Shawlia opened herself for business once again.

The Shawlia Adventurers’ League managed to reclaim its base soon after they returned to Shawlia. The former pariahs were now local heroes and were looking to recruit new members. Ty, Jenny and Lilac all agreed to stay involved with the SAL for the foreseeable future. When the time came for Annika and her CAS comrades to return to the Grand Island, Annika and Eliza shared a friendly goodbye and told each other to keep up the good work. Both of their organizations would soon be down a member, after all. Also, Alyssa was able to all but confirm that the Mega Stone she had looted from the CTO caravan was the one that Annika had bought her early in their relationship. She had not found any other Lucario stones in Shawlia after her return to the city. No records of any Lucario who may have taken her stone having served the CTO were found either.

Riccardo had received permission from Queen Mona of Anetisia to become Nia’s Royal Consort. He was to go with the Queen, Princess and their guards to the Grand Island and assume his new duties there. He also hoped to use the realm’s resources to further his own scholarship. Thanks to Nia’s convincing, he had not spread the truth about Annika’s former humanity to anyone else. As for Nia, it had been decided that her purpose with the CAS had been fulfilled. It was time for her to return home to Anetisia and resume her life there. She told “Lady Annika” that she would always appreciate all that she had learned fighting and traveling alongside the members of the CAS. Anetisia would always be indebted to Annika’s organization and look favorably upon them and Creekside Town. She also finally fully forgave Marcy for her actions taken on behalf of the AML and the late Hierophant Lucius.

Back on the Adalsian Continent, the denizens of Cardega Town got to work putting their homes and their lives back together. Carver was easily granted his old title of Militia Captain by the locals. He was offered the position of Mayor, but politely declined it. Mordred became the head of scouting for the re-formed Cardegan Militia.

As the region of Adalsia affected by the rapid rise and fall of the CTO began to rebuild itself, Zacian and Zamazenta disappeared back into the wilds. They had done their duty in their minds and had never intended to stay involved with any particular settlements for longer than they had to. The Shawlians continued to see themselves as somewhat indebted to the war wolves long after the fall of the CTO. Many of them had also gotten to work on repairing their Central Church of Arceus soon after their city had been liberated. 

As for the CAS and the other Pokémon from Creekside who had helped to defeat Eternatus and their church, they returned to the Grand Island on the _Ocean Breeze_. From Dralka Town, they took a series of specially prepared barges to Creekside, where they were all celebrated as heroes. Palkia had also managed to repair her local reputation, even if unintentionally, by appearing to rally everyone when Annika and company had needed their help the most.

Lawrence and Marcy wasted little time preparing their wedding after getting back home. The citizens of Creekside saw Marcy in a better light after learning that she had been willing to sacrifice her life to save Annika’s. The whole membership of CAS was present to see Marcy and Lawrence get married by Creekside Prelate Aurelia.

For most of the rest of the CAS, things returned to normal. Leo and Sapphire’s daughter Leona had been escorted back to Creekside by some friends they had made on their vacation. Therefore, she was safe. Marcy and Lawrence took some time off after their wedding. Drake returned leadership of the CAS to Annika. Sylvester, unlike Nia, continued on as an active member of the CAS.

For a few weeks after their return home, things were quite calm for the CAS. However, three and a half months after the Battle of Mount Galtia, Annika announced to her entire membership, including her wife, that she and Alyssa were going to take a long-overdue vacation for a few weeks. They would be touring the southern coast of the Grand Island, staying at places that Leo and Sapphire had privately recommended to Annika.

Alyssa had had some idea that Annika had been planning her announcement. That was why she had not bothered her wife about her vacation idea for months. However, when she heard Annika publicly announce the vacation, she picked up and passionately kissed her wife. It was decided that Leo would become the Temporary Society Head this time, in major part due to his seniority. The CAS members who had not been aware of the plan in advance all wished Annika and Alyssa a wonderful and well-deserved vacation. 

One week after the announcement was made, the young couple departed for the southern coast. It was time for them to enjoy some time together and not worry about their business, or their and their friends immediate safety, for a few weeks.

\---

A few days over four months after the Battle of Mount Galtia, Annika was relaxing with her eyes closed on a wooden beach chair. This particular beach was located off of a small resort town on the southernmost tip of the Grand Island. Leo and Sapphire had recommended it highly. It was late afternoon at the moment, not too long until dinnertime.

Annika had been thinking over the events she had been a part of on the Adalsian Continent. She was still satisfied that her organization had gained even more fame and respect recently. At the same time, she was actually happy to have gotten the chance to get away from it all for a bit. Possibly because of her former humanity, she enjoyed warm weather more than a Weavile was arguably supposed to. She had learned that during her time in Shawlia. 

Annika vaguely heard some footsteps in front of her. She opened her eyes to see Alyssa standing in front of her. Alyssa innocently asked her wife, “Do you want to go on a quick walk before dinner?”

Annika smiled up at Alyssa and got off of her beach chair. She then stretched her arms a bit and replied, “Sure thing, Aly. I have to say, you really were right about this whole vacation thing.”

Alyssa nodded and smiled warmly down at Annika. Then, the young couple took each other’s hand and began their walk down the beach. Thankfully, they were close to alone on the beach at the moment. It being late summer-early fall, there were not as many visitors to the area as there were during the colder months. 

While walking, Alyssa told her wife, “You know, after realizing the truth behind the AML and later seeing the destruction wrought by the CTO, I think that I am starting to come around to your point about religious faith being dangerous.”

Annika nodded and replied, “Yet, it motivated the Shawlians to protect their home and in a way, it motivated Zacian and Zamazenta to help us fight back against Eternatus.”

Alyssa added, “Eternatus was an interesting foe to be sure. They were a demigod, but they were one with a practically unshakable faith in a power even higher than Arceus. I think that they were motivated by a combination of both their faith in the ‘Overdiety’ and their desire to get ‘revenge’ on Arceus.”

Annika nodded again and then looked into Alyssa’s eyes. She told her beloved, “You know, here is how I see it now. Religious faith is a powerful force in many folks’ minds. It may be that it always will have that sort of appeal. Even if something else replaces it, that thing might be fundamentally indistinguishable from religion. My point is that faith is absolutely dangerous. However, it can also lead to hope, which is normally a good thing. Like the Legendary Pokémon themselves, it is a force that needs to respected. I have learned to respect its power recently more than I ever thought I would. Still, as powerful as it is, there are times when it needs to be opposed when it leads to harmful consequences.”

Alyssa nodded slowly and then told Annika, “You always were a smart one, my love. I will simply add that everyone should be careful and think critically about who and what they put their faith in. I certainly learned that lesson the hard way with Lucius. Now, I put my faith in you and in our friends.”

Annika blushed slightly. She then smiled warmly at her wife. Annika then finished, “In the end, those who have earned trust might be the best thing to put your faith in. Even if they still let you down sometimes, I can think of no better alternative. We need to be able to have faith in each other if we are to get anything done in life.”

Alyssa simply nodded back at Annika as the young couple made their way down the beach. They had earned this rest together. For both of them, there was nobody they would rather spend this precious time alone with.

 _Pokémon Mystery Dungeon In the Wake of Gods_ : THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this story through to the end. I hope that you enjoyed it. With all of that said, starting most likely this upcoming Monday from this posting, this story’s sequel, which is entitled Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: In the Wake of Fate, will begin posting. That story will be the finale of this trilogy. It will probably be the last installment in this series, but it is possible that the series will continue with new characters at some point. Once again, thank you all for reading and special thanks to those who left kudos and/or positive comments. I hope that you also read through the final story of this trilogy as you have read this one and presumably its predecessor if you are reading this.


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